Most western Europeans think immigration over the past decade has been too high and their governments have handled it badly, with more believing immigration has been negative for their country than not, a survey has shown.
Days after the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) doubled its score in a German election dominated by the question, the YouGov poll found majorities in all seven countries surveyed felt immigration had been too high.
Respondents in Germany (81%) and Spain (80%) were the most likely to have this opinion, followed by those in Sweden (73%), the UK, Italy (both 71%) and France (69%). People in Denmark were significantly less likely to say so (55%).
Of five possible responses ranging from “much too high” to “much too low”, the most common in all seven countries was that immigration had been “much too high” over the past 10 years – 61% of Germans, 54% of Spaniards and 50% of Britons chose this.
Majorities or pluralities in all of the countries surveyed also said that they believed immigration levels had mostly been bad for their country. Italians were the most likely to feel this way (56%), followed closely by respondents in Germany (55%).
Four in 10 Britons (42%) said immigration had been bad for the country, the second lowest rate after Denmark across the countries surveyed, three in 10 felt it had been both good and bad, and 21% said it had been mostly good – the highest of the seven.
Immigration has long been pushed as a top political issue by Europe’s far-right parties. More recently, their increasing electoral success has prompted mainstream conservative parties to copy their hardline agenda, further increasing its salience.
YouGov’s data showed Europeans now consider immigration to be one of the most significant issues facing their country. Offered a choice of 13 challenges, respondents in every country surveyed ranked immigration at least among the top four.
At 42%, Germans were again the most likely to consider immigration a top issue, making it their number one concern with the state of the economy (41%). Several polls during Germany’s election campaign highlighted immigration as a key question.
Immigration came second behind the economy as the most important single issue in Britain and France, and was also the second biggest concern in Spain behind housing. It was ranked the third biggest issue in Sweden after crime and healthcare.
Majorities in all seven countries were critical of their governments’ approach to immigration, with as many as 83% in Germany and 80% in France saying authorities there had handled the issue badly. In the UK that sentiment stood at 72%.
Criticism of government immigration policy did not fall below 50% in any of the countries surveyed, with Denmark (52%) again being the lowest.
