The majority of elderly French citizens pick countries like Portugal, where some 120 thousand French pensioners are currently living, younger generations choose to move to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The French government insists on keeping the country’s borders open to immigrants, which is causing a wave of migration unprecedented in years in the Western European state. French people are feeling increasingly less safe in their own country as the number of criminal offences are rising each month. A recent survey suggests that 67 per cent of people are concerned for their safety in their homeland. 15 per cent of the respondents said they have been victims of aggression, street theft or burglary in the past two years, with another 29 per cent saying that at least one of their relatives has already been a victim of a criminal act.

As a result, many people decide to leave France and move to other countries. In January 2022, over 1.6 million French citizens were estimated to be living abroad. The relevant ministry, however, says the number is likely much higher, closer to 2.5 million, as not all expatriates register themselves as such. Based on the survey, French news portal Boulevard Voltaire writes that

many elderly French citizens, over 120 thousand, have relocated to Portugal. Younger generations, however, choose to move to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The author of the article wrote about Hungary in particular, which he said is a favourite destination for young French active workers who no longer feel that living in France is best for them. Simon Vesperini, a French content content creator and influencer who has moved to Hungary, corroborates this view. Another French influencer says in one of his videos

„For me, the quality of life is better in Hungary. What I can buy in Hungary, I couldn’t buy in France at all.”

Other testimonies include that of Laetitia, a mother who moved her family to Hungary during the coronavirus epidemic. „I was living in Nimes, a city that has changed a lot in a few years,” she told Boulevard Voltaire, adding

„now I don’t worry about my children, who are studying in Budapest, in a quiet city where they are safe.”

Numbeo Safety Index ranks France as the second most dangerous in Europe behind Belarus, while the Czech Republic (73.4), for example, is one of the highest rated countries in terms of safety on the continent. Poland (70.8), Slovakia (68.6) and Hungary (66.1) also have very respectable scores for 2022.

Earlier, another survey showed that European citizens in countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are much less likely to be robbed than in Western European countries, and this is also true for other serious crimes such as rape.