Europeans put off moving here due to cost of living
Guernsey’s high cost of living is one reason why the island has seen a decline in the number of residents from some European countries in recent years, however at the same time there has been an increase in people arriving from the rest of the world.
The latest electronic census showed that while the highest percentage of immigrants last year came from the UK or Republic of Ireland, the number moving to Guernsey from Portugal and other European countries had dropped since 2020.
By contrast, people coming from non-European countries last year comprised the largest group of immigrants, at just over 30%.
People from the Philippines made up the largest proportion at 19%, followed by South Africa (13.1%), Kenya (9.2%) and Zimbabwe (9.1%).
Recruitment company AP Group’s chief executive Gina Le Prevost said a lot of people moving to the island to work from African countries may have come over on short-term licences but ended up living here.
‘They want to experience an international career by coming to Guernsey and once they get there they want to stay.’
The Little Big Hotel Group’s Charlie Walker said its main source of staff was now the Philippines.
‘The majority of our workforce at the moment is Filipino,’ she said.
‘Coming out of Covid, it’s where we’ve been finding a reliable workforce.
‘The number of European applications effectively fell off a cliff.’
About 80% of the staff at the group’s three hotels were from the country and Miss Walker said they had become a ‘fantastic, reliable team’.
The number of Latvian nationals living in Guernsey has fallen, according to Guernsey’s honorary Latvian consul Lilita Kruze.
‘There’s been a big drop. We have 889 now,’ she said.
At the end of 2022 it was estimated that the island had about 1,500 residents from Latvia.
The cost of living in Guernsey was now so high that people either went elsewhere or stayed in Latvia, she said.
She had noticed that she did not hear the Latvian language spoken as much as she used to when she was out.
But it was a good thing that Guernsey’s population was so multi-cultural,' she said.
‘It’s good to have a mix of different cultures,’ said Ms Kruze.
Indian and Hindu community representative Raj Singh has lived in Guernsey for just over five years.
‘I have definitely seen a lot of new faces in the island,’ he said.
‘A lot of new people came over last year and now they are liking the island.
‘It’s a very good place to have a good work/life balance and the things you need to raise a family are easily reachable.’
Guernsey Islamic Charitable Trust chairman Abdul Sohail has also noticed an increase in members of the Islamic community in the island.
Included are people from South Africa, Bangladesh and Nigeria, while Mr Sohail himself is from Pakistan.
‘We don’t have the authority to keep personal data, but generally in our congregation we’ve noticed a lot of new people,’ he said.
Often those moving to Guernsey would make contact with the group in advance.
‘There are a few we have seen from African countries but I couldn’t put my finger on particular countries. We make sure prayers are organised and that those who are coming have basic information.’
