Dynamics in Patterns of Internal Migration in Poland Between 2017 and 2023 – What Are the Impacts of COVID-19?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound spatial impact on economic, cultural and social life, notably altering mobility, including internal migration. Many studies to date looked into various aspects of internal migration patterns after the pandemic outbreak. However, little research has been focused on the area of Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of the paper is to empirically examine the quantitative perspective of registered inter-municipal migrations in Poland between 2017 and 2023. Specifically, the study sought to determine how the scale and directions of internal migrations in Poland changed across three distinct periods: (1) pre-pandemic (2017–2019); (2) during the initial COVID-19 response (2020); (3) post-restrictions period (2021–2023). We ask to what extent the dominant internal migration trends (depopulation of rural areas and growth in metropolitan areas fuelled by strong suburbanisation trends) were affected during COVID-19 compared to preceding years. We examine this through analysis of migration intensity, net-migration rates and the predominance of urban and rural origins and destinations, using population register data on annual flows between municipalities. We discover that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a decrease of migration intensity in 2020 as well as in the following years compared to 2017–2019, with lower net-migration rates in suburban areas and greater in non-metropolitan peripheries.