IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joprea/v42y2025i2d10.1007_s12546-025-09374-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the digital footprints of migration: insights from google trends and protection seekers’ applications to Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Dmitry Erokhin

    (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis)

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of using Google Trends data to understand migration dynamics, focusing on people seeking protection in Germany between 2015 and 2019. By analyzing the relationship between changes in migration flows, expressed as percentage changes, and online search interest in Germany from origin countries, the study explores how digital behavior may reflect migration intentions. A weak but statistically significant positive correlation is observed, with regression analyses indicating a stronger relationship when controlling for year- and country-fixed effects. Notably, the coefficient increases markedly when focusing specifically on the top 10 origin countries, highlighting the potential of digital indicators in capturing migration intentions during acute migratory crises. The findings support the hypothesis that spikes in online search interest could signal interest in Germany among people seeking protection prior to migration. Despite limitations such as the reliance on relative search interest and low predictive power in the simple model, the study demonstrates the potential utility of digital data as a supplementary tool in migration research. Integrating such insights with traditional data sources can enhance understanding of the multifaceted drivers behind migration flows.

Suggested Citation

  • Dmitry Erokhin, 2025. "Exploring the digital footprints of migration: insights from google trends and protection seekers’ applications to Germany," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 1-11, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:42:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s12546-025-09374-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s12546-025-09374-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12546-025-09374-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12546-025-09374-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:42:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s12546-025-09374-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.