Comparing Migrants’ Health across Europe: Same Origins, Different Destinations

Eleonora Trappolini , University of Milan-Bicocca
Giammarco Alderotti, University of Florence

Health is a key dimension of migrants’ integration, yet its determinants operate across multiple stages of the migration process and reflect both origin and destination contexts. While previous research has mostly focused on destination-country characteristics, little is known about how countries of origin shape migrants’ health outcomes once abroad. This study applies a country-of-origin/country-of-destination framework to analyse differences in self-rated health and depression among migrants from four major regions of origin—Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and Latin America—across three European macro-regions: Northern, Continental, and Southern Europe. Using data from rounds 7 (2014) and 11 (2023) of the European Social Survey, we analyse 3,095 foreign-born respondents. Weighted logistic regression models are estimated for self-rated health and depression, including an interaction between origin and destination regions and controlling for a broad set of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and migration-related factors. Preliminary findings reveal significant cross-regional variation: migrants from the same origin display distinct health and depression patterns depending on their destination. Sub-Saharan Africans report poorer self-rated health in Southern Europe, whereas MENA migrants show lower depression levels in Southern compared to Northern or Continental Europe. These differences persist after adjustment for individual characteristics, indicating the relevance of contextual features such as welfare regimes and integration policies. By jointly considering origin and destination contexts, this study advances a multidimensional understanding of how structural, institutional, and cultural factors interact with migrants’ backgrounds and integration processes to shape health inequalities across Europe.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 75. Health and Mortality in Migrant Populations