Berlin, Jan 30, IRNA ,The number of German emigrants has reached a new record, as 155,000 Germans left their native country in 2006, the daily Die Welt said citing the German Economic Research Institute (DIW).
The latest figure is the highest level since 1954, when official statistics of German emigrants were recorded.
A large group of German emigrants leave their country only on a temporary basis and around 155,000 expats are also returning to Germany every year, said the author of the DIW study Juergen Schupp.
While Germans are still emigrating to traditional immigrants countries like the US, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, many German expats prefer other European countries like Spain, Norway and Ireland.
According to Schupp, the phenomenon of immigration in the age of globalization has changed, as emigrants live only for a few years in a country and then proceed to re-locate somewhere else.
Schupp pointed also out that there were no noticeable signs of ‘brain drain’ in Germany.
He also added that German unemployment was not a primary reason for the latest wave of emigration.
The number of registered jobless Germans stood at around 3.8 million.