by Daniel. J Elanga Mendogo
Definition
Based on the 2023 data from Portable Documents A1 (PDs A1), this diagram illustrates the movement of posted workers between EU/EFTA countries and the UK. A PD A1 establishes that the holder is registered with the social security system of the issuing country and exempts them and/or their employer from paying social security contributions in another country (EU Regulation 883/2004). PDs A1 under article 12 of EU Regulation 883/2004 are primarily issued to posted workers (95%), followed by self-employed individuals (5%) pursuing an activity in another country. Throughout this article, all of these individuals will be referred to as posted workers.
How to read this diagram ?
In 2023, approximately 3.6 million PDs were granted under Article 12. The size of each sector in the diagram reflects the importance of the associated country, as measured by the total number of PDs issued and received. Arrows of the same colour as the country sector represent outgoing PDs A1, while arrows in different colours represent incoming PDs A1. Germany, for example, is associated with blue. Reading clockwise, the sector begins with PDs A1 issued for outgoing posted workers, represented by blue arrows. These are followed by PDs A1 received for incoming posted workers, represented by coloured arrows corresponding to the issuing country’s colour.
The centrality of the German economy
Germany was by far the most important country based on the total number of issued and received PDs. Furthermore, it was also the primary issuer of PDs received by almost all the other countries. The other major countries in the top five of this classification are, in descending order, France, Austria, Italy and Poland. Together, EFTA countries and the UK also had a higher total number of issued and received PDs, however they were largely net receivers. The bottom five countries, in descending order of total PDs issued and received, were Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Estonia and Latvia.
Issuing versus receiving Member States
Analysing the issued and received PDs separately alters the previous classification slightly. The top five issuing Member States, in descending order, were Germany, Poland, Italy, France and Spain, while the top five receiving Member States were Germany (again), France, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Together, EFTA countries and the UK received a significant number of PDs A1, placing the group between France and Germany. At the bottom of the distribution, the five Member States which issued the fewest number of PDs were Ireland, Sweden, Malta, Cyprus and Greece, while the five Member States which received the fewest number of PDs were: Malta, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
Net issuers versus net receivers
Most Member States were net receivers rather than net issuers. Only eight of them had a higher total number of issued PDs than received PDs. These were: Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Hungary and Lithuania.
Concentration versus diversification
The distribution of issued PDs show that some countries have their posted workers mainly concentrated in one destination, while for others posted workers are more spread out across several destinations. For example, over 50% of the PDs issued by Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Poland are delivered to workers posted to Germany. Conversely, for countries such as Italy, France, Finland, Germany the largest share of PDs issued towards a given destination does not exceed 25% of their total issued PDs.
Concentration is even more pronounced for the received PDs. Except the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, France, Belgium and Germany, all the remaining Member States received more than 50% of their PDs from Germany. This figure rises up to 97.5% for Cyprus, which received almost 51600 PDs. Germany is also the primary provider of posted workers for the remaining destinations, with the lowest proportion above 32%. Poland issued the largest share of PDs received by Germany, representing over 26% of the total.
Additional information
For more details on the posting of workers in EU/EFTA countries and the UK in 2023, interested readers can refer: Frederic De Wispelaere, Lynn De Smedt, and Jozef Pacolet. Posting of Workers: Report on A1 Portable Documents Issued in 2023 (2025).