Now, many French citizens are finding a safe haven in Central and Eastern Europe, according to French news outlet Boulevard Voltaire.

The article makes reference to an Elabe Institute survey conducted in December last year, which revealed that 67 percent of French people no longer feel safe in the country. As such, more French citizens are seeking to ease their security concerns by emigrating to more secure countries, primarily in Central and Eastern Europe.

The author, Julien Teller, notes how more than 1.6 million French nationals were estimated to be living abroad as of January 2022. However, the country’s Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs considers the figure to be far higher, and it could be closer to 2.5 million.

While a higher percentage of older French nationals choose countries such as Portugal to enjoy their retirement, a country where more than 120,000 retired French citizens now reside, the younger generation is choosing Central and Eastern Europe countries such as Hungary and Czechia to relocate.

According to the Numbeo Quality of Life index, France ranks 30th overall in the world, while Hungary is ranked 40th; however, this doesn’t tell the whole story.

Analysis of the safety index sees France awarded just 44.7, the second-lowest score in Europe and better only than Belarus. In contrast, countries such as Czechia (73.4) have one of the highest ratings on the continent, while Poland (70.8), Slovakia (68.6), and Hungary (66.1) also post highly respectable scores.

European citizens are much less likely to be robbed in countries like Hungary and Poland compared to Western European countries, and this also applies to other serious crime statistics, such as rape.

Czechia and Hungary also record the two best scores in Europe for the ratio of home prices to income ratio, a key factor for young ex-pats.

https://rmx.news/france/young-expats-are-leaving-unsafe-france-and-heading-for-hungary/