More than one million people have immigrated to Germany in the biggest migratory wave to the country since 1995.

The data was reported by the online newspaper "New Europe," as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, BTA.

This has been mainly due to the influx of people from the Southern European countries that are badly affected by the high unemployment rates and the slow economic growth during the long recovery from the recession, the newspaper noted.

The immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania for the last year were 7 000 and 21 000, respectively. From the beginning of next year, the citizens of the two Balkan countries will receive full freedom of movement to work in Germany. Currently, they are benefiting from a previous easing of restrictions, which affected skilled workers with a university degree whose employment corresponds to their qualifications, seasonal workers, and professionals on in-firm trainings.

The online newspaper also tracks the increase of immigrants from other members of the European Union, as the most numerous are those coming in from Italy (more than 12 000 people). The number of Spaniards who headed to Germany in 2012 has increased with 45 % compared to 2011, while the number of Greeks has gone up with 43 %.

"What we know about this new generation of European immigrants is that they are younger and better qualified than the average of the German population. I would describe this as a win-win situation for these young people, for Germany, but also for their countries of origin," said Katharina Senge, coordinator for immigration and integration for the "Konrad Adenauer" Foundation.

"New Europe" illustrates its publication, reminding its readers that since the fall of Communism in 1989 around 1.5 million Bulgarians have left our country. Bulgaria sees a leak of young, educated people, which has tragic consequences for the economy and the society as a whole on the background of workforce with low qualification and aging population.

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