This blog is second of the series on Strategies to build reasons to come and stay for people and investments, developed by the OECD Regional Attractiveness and Migrant Integration Unit in CFE/RDG. The objective is to present to readers ways in which to make their territory more attractive, building on existing examples that have proved impactful. Many of the examples come from the unit’s regional attractiveness community of practice, which includes over 40 regions in 15 countries. This blog benefitted from the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Across the OECD, regions are scrambling for the skills needed to boost regional prosperity. For many, mobilising diaspora communities, those with roots in these regions but now live elsewhere, could help bolster the workforce, investment, and civic energy.
Pairing quick fixes (including data-led outreach, family-oriented one-stops, employer incentives, and trusted storytelling) and core place-based investments in attractiveness factors like housing and public services can turn attachment into arrivals and long-term retention.
The draw of the diaspora
Many OECD regions and cities are grappling with demographic decline and ageing. Between 2001 and 2021, nearly 40% of remote regions lost inhabitants, and the trend is set to continue. By 2050, two-thirds of EU regions are projected to have less population than in 2019, while nearly 9 of 10 regions are projected to have a higher median age. Resulting labour shortages and community decline threaten inclusive and sustainable growth.
These regions are competing for new residents. Among target groups, the diaspora is a low hanging fruit: they face lower search and relocation costs and typically show stronger long-term attachment than newcomers. Returnees also bring external networks, sector know-how, enhancing exports, innovation, entrepreneurship and investor attraction.
The opportunity is huge. Ireland, Portugal, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, and New Zealand have diasporas exceeding 10% of their population, while in Poland, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Spain or Turkey, it is equivalent to 5-10% range. Survey data suggests many are attracted by the idea of returning home: 21% of Australians, 20% of Turks,15% of Americans and French, 8% of Portuguese abroad would like to come home. Within countries, many remote regions have particularly deep pools of potential returners: Corsica and the Azores’s diaspora are larger than the islands’ population, while around 530 000 Galicians and 420 000 Okinawan are registered abroad. The policy question is no longer whether to engage diasporas, but how to do so effectively and at scale.
Share of OECD migrants who want to move back to their home country
Bringing them home
Converting intent into moves, however, requires comprehensive offers and frictionless pathways that blend quick, human-centred actions with longer-term place investments that help people return and stay. Our work highlights a few key lessons.
Track and tempt
First, track and engage the diaspora. In Spain’s Basque Country, the talent attractiveness public agency Bizkaia Talent systematically surveys local university graduates to map where they live and what skills they hold, then runs targeted meetups to encourage return, for instance in Edinburgh, Scotland-UK, where green-sector Basque engineers concentrate. Spanish regions also use community “houses” abroad as engagement nodes; Asturias runs several in Argentine cities with large Asturian communities.
In France, the department of Manche puts expatriates at the centre of its talent strategy. Facing a projected 20% decline in working-age population by 2050 and increasing labour needs, its attractiveness agency targets youth who left for studies and work, surveys return intentions, and holds job fairs in Paris, where many live. Corsica’s diaspora association partners with the regional economic agency to map Corsicans abroad and channel opportunities.
Italy’s Emilia-Romagna takes its R&D ecosystem on the road, meeting the diaspora where they are. It hosts events abroad, including in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, to connect researchers, firms, and high-skilled expats with opportunities back home.
Making the choice simple
Second, remove relocation frictions with tailored and free relocation services designed for talent and their families. Returnees hit barriers, including qualification recognition, school admissions timing, housing search, spouse employment, childcare places, or healthcare onboarding. A single digital and physical front door with clear services can smoothen relocation decisions. Galicia’s strategy for the return of Galicians and their descendants shows this at scale: the 2018-2022 edition supported the return of beyond 28 000 people from over 40 countries, the current one aims for another 30 000, with a budget of 450 million euros. It relies on a network of one-stop shops providing personalised administrative/benefit guidance (in person and online) on social, education and labour matters.
In the French Manche department, the relocation service helping with housing, school enrolment and spousal job-search aims for the return of 500 households annually. In Canada, Québec’s Place aux Jeunes en région offers individual support through a network of 80 local welcome-agents across all communities, for an average of 1500 relocations annually.
Boost the benefits
Third, deploy targeted incentives. Many regions offer grants to firms that hire returnees, and to start-ups founded by returnees. Some are sector-specific – in Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador’s “Come Home” focuses on supporting the recruitment of returning health-care workers – while others raise support for priority sectors, geographies, and population groups. In Spain, Castilla-La Mancha provides higher aid for R&D&I roles, while Galicia adds uplifts for sectors including the social economy and maritime–fisheries and offers extra incentives for women and projects in rural areas.
Stories that stick
Fourth, develop a strong story. Trusted messengers and authentic narratives outperform generic campaigns for audiences with pre-existing attachment. In Italy, Emilia-Romagna’s “Back to Emilia-Romagna” showcases real returnees and concrete services through live-streamed conversations with public media. In Sweden’s Dalarna, “Do you miss someone?” mobilised leaders and residents to phone friends and relatives with roots in the region, creating a pipeline of motivated households at very low cost. Hedmark in Norway reached into its “mountain region” diaspora with phone and postcard outreach from locals, emphasising lived experience over slogans.
Fixing the foundations
Yet targeted actions cannot make up for weak fundamentals. Quick wins must be paired with structural investments in the drivers of regional attractiveness, including affordable housing, high-quality public services, reliable connectivity and cultural and natural amenities that ultimately determine whether returnees settle, thrive, and stay over time.
Seizing the opportunity
The time is right: the pool of potential returners is large, and we are getting a handle on what works. Regions should act now to convert existing attachment into renewed demographic and socio-economic vitality.
To read more work from the OECD on regional attractiveness, check out our webpage Rethinking regional attractiveness and report OECD Regional Outlook 2023. Stay up-to-date with all the latest developments by following us on LinkedIn, X, and BlueSky.
Margaux Tharaux is a junior policy analyst in the Regional Attractiveness and Migrant Integration Unit at the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities. Her work mainly focuses on migrant integration policies. She holds a double master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the London School of Economics and in Economics and Public Policy from Sciences Po Paris.