Geographical aspects of East-West migration in the Czech Republic between 1991–2015

HUBL, Richard. Geographical aspects of East-West migration in the Czech Republic between 1991–2015. Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis, Facultas Rerum Naturalium, Geographica. Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2018, vol. 48, 1-2, p. 85-107. ISSN 1212-2157.

Basic information

• Original name: Geographical aspects of East-West migration in the Czech Republic between 1991–2015
• Name in Czech: Geografické aspekty migrace Východ-Západ v České republice v období 1991-2015
• Authors: HUBL, Richard (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution).
• Edition: Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis, Facultas Rerum Naturalium, Geographica, Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2018, 1212-2157.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Field of Study: 50701 Cultural and economic geography
• Country of publisher: Czech Republic
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• RIV identification code: RIV/00216224:14310/18:00115726
• Organization unit: Faculty of Science
• Keywords in English: Czech Republic; internal migration; migration efficiency; young adults; peripheral regions; depopulation
• Tags: Czech Republic, depopulation, internal migration, migration efficiency, peripheral regions, rivok, young adults
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

Internal migration is a significant demographic and spatial indicator reflecting social and economic changes. Compared to the rest of the country, the eastern part of the Czech Republic (also the East) represents a slightly different area in terms of internal migration patterns. The aim of this paper is to analyse internal migration of the East during the 1991–2015 period, to identify direction and age migratory trends, and to evaluate the internal migration efficiency and its impact on the population of the East. To assess the impact of migration, a typology comparing natural increase with net migration and the index of migration efficiency was used. Because of very effective emigration with the western part of the Czech Republic in 1991–2015, the East steadily changed from population increase to population decline, losing 88.8 thousand inhabitants by internal migration. The observed migratory loss was predominantly composed of young population, especially in the structurally affected Moravian-Silesian Region. The current migration tendencies (after 2015) continue to show the demonstrated trend of the East to West youth brain drain, the consequences of which are likely to lead to further deterioration of the already problematic situation of the East, with the exception of the city of Brno and its hinterland.