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Belarus 1 host: Germans are heading for Australia, Japan and the U.S. Here’s what he left out—and where the facts don’t match his story
A Belarus 1 host claimed that highly skilled professionals are leaving Germany for Australia, Japan and the U.S. The WTF team looked into the actual numbers.
Highly skilled workers are fleeing Germany in search of a better life, with some even heading to Russia and Belarus, claimed “Voice of Germany” host Sergey Filbert in an interview on Belarus 1. The Weekly Top Fake team dug into who’s actually leaving, where they’re going, and how many end up coming back.
On September 16, 2024, host Sergey Gusachenko and Sergey Filbert, creator of “Voice of Germany,” discussed Germans supposedly fleeing the country on the show “Clear Politics.”
“No jobs means no people. At the same time, people are starting to leave Germany in search of a better life. According to official government statistics, up to 300,000 highly skilled professionals leave Germany every year. The main destinations are Australia, Japan, and of course, the U.S.,” Gusachenko said.
Then Filbert weighed in: “Skilled people are leaving because you can’t enjoy the same quality of life from your profession here as you could in Canada, Australia or other European countries. I know people who have moved to Russia and Belarus.”
According to official statistics, more people moved to Germany in 2023 than left: 1.9 million arrivals versus 1.3 million departures. As for German citizens, about 260,000 left the country last year. A little over 190,000 Germans moved back. That’s a net loss of just over 73,000 Germans. This trend has been seen since 2016, back when Germany’s economy was still strong.
And Germans aren’t moving to the countries Gusachenko named. The top three destinations are German-speaking Switzerland and Austria, plus the U.S.
Last year, 115 Germans moved to Belarus, while 162 left for other countries. It’s a similar story with Russia: just over 3,000 Germans moved there, but nearly 5,000 came back.
