Europe's population crisis

“Most politicians on the centre-left and centre-right recognise that immigration is needed to ease demographic pressures,” said John Springford, an associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “They have sought to focus on tougher – and often inhumane – asylum rules in the hope that stricter border enforcement will provide political cover for higher regular immigration.

“But radical right parties are increasingly challenging the mainstream consensus. Those countries that manage to hold the line against demands to cut working-age immigration will be in a stronger position economically in the long run.”

...“The main consequences will be slower growth because the labour force will shrink, and higher tax burdens, because pension spending and the demand for health and elderly care will rise,” said Springford.

...“Increasing immigration levels will not solve these demographic problems on their own – the levels required to do so would be very large, and there are only so many migrants who are willing to move,” said Springford.

“But they would help, as would raising employment rates of working-age people, pushing back the age of retirement, reforming pensions and shifting the burden of taxation from labour income to wealth, especially property.”