For the first time in more than 30 years, more Poles are moving back to their homeland from Germany than vice versa, with people attracted by Poland’s economic growth, streamlined administration, and lower taxes, writes German media outlet Tagesschau.

Zbyszek Perzyna says the scalding water in their home is one reason he and his wife Gierko no longer want to live in Germany. claiming they have had no cold water for over a decade. 

“A lot of little things – all together: one big problem,” says Perzyna, who claims numerous issues with their property management company include no cold water for over a decade. 

“But I’m from Poland,” he jokes, telling the portal he created a workaround, using a special hose to bring cold water into their home. Both are self-employed, earn good money, and pay their taxes. 

Now, they are looking for a home in Poland, and getting a loan isn’t an issue in Poland, unlike in Germany. Gierko says she hasn’t even been able to get a car lease in Germany. She’s self-employed, financially successful, and pays high taxes and fixed costs, such as health insurance—”and yet I still got the answer that I’m not creditworthy.”

Writer Jacek Dehnel lasted less than five years in Berlin, Tagesschau writes. He left Poland over concerns regarding homophobia in the wake of the presidential victory of the right-wing PiS party.

Openly gay and married to his partner, he had a dire message: “I have the impression that Germany is a ‘failed state’ in terms of everyday quality of life,” he says. 

He also criticized what he called an uncooperative and bureaucratic system with very little digitally accessible and often no solution for problems presented. 

Dehnel noted that those who request something in English are sometimes simply turned away.

“German society is accustomed to being harassed by the state in this way – and sees it as normal,” he says, with people acclimated to having problems with all the different German authorities. “Everyone takes it for granted as a natural part of life.”

With him and his husband “exhausted,” they will now return to Poland, where they see “constant growth, improvement, modernization, facilitation, and optimization of everyday life.” 

The data says they are right, notes Tagesschau. Since 2015, Poland has regularly achieved annual growth rates of around 5 percent, while Germany saw its highest growth this decade (2.7 percent) eight years ago.

Data also shows that the trend of people emigrating to Germany has ended, with the Federal Statistical Office reporting a net decrease of 11,239 people last year.

Since the early 1980s, Germany had experienced a surge in immigration from Poland. Only briefly, in the mid-1990s, did the influx slow somewhat. However, as a rule, several tens of thousands more people came to Germany each year from Poland than the other way around. 

Nils Witte of the Federal Institute for Population Research doesn’t see this as a statistical outlier, but rather as a logical consequence of developments in the neighboring country. And that country is economically better than Germany’s: 

“That’s actually something that’s so desired in the European Union, that the markets gradually converge,” says Witte. “And that’s exactly what’s happening.”

The Polish economy is catching up with Germany. And a closer look at the figures reveals how much Germany’s attractiveness has suffered. Witte notes that “the number of people leaving Germany for Poland has remained constant. What has changed: fewer Poles are coming to Germany.”

This raises concerns for German employers, as Poles have been helping to alleviate labor shortages in many industries for years, including the nursing sector, construction, and many other areas. For example, Brandenburg has benefited greatly from Polish workers. Some moved to Germany, but many simply commute to work daily. 

However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for employers to recruit Polish employees, says André Fritsche, managing director of the Cottbus Chamber of Industry and Commerce. 

In other words, it is becoming more and more appealing for Poles to return to their country or, for commuters, to simply work in Poland. 

“Poland is now ranked 20th in the global economy,” Fritsche says, adding: “That’s something we, of course, also want here in the region: for people to return.”