Since 2000, IOM has been producing world migration reports. The World Migration Report 2020, the tenth in the world migration report series, has been produced to contribute to increased understanding of migration throughout the world. This new edition presents key data and information on migration as well as thematic chapters on highly topical migration issues.
The vast majority of people continue to live in the countries in which they were born —only one in 30 are migrants.
In most discussions on migration, the starting point is usually numbers. Understanding changes in scale, emerging trends and shifting demographics related to global social and economic transformations, such as migration, help us make sense of the changing world we live in and plan for the future. The current global estimate is that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world in 2020, which equates to 3.6 per cent of the global population.
Overall, the estimated number of international migrants has increased over the past five decades. The total estimated 281 million people living in a country other than their countries of birth in 2020 was 128 million more than in 1990, and over three times the estimated number in 1970.
Europe and Asia each hosted around 87 and 86 million international migrants, respectively – comprising 61% of the global international migrant stock.
These regions were followed by North America, with almost 59 million international migrants in 2020 or 21 percent of the global migrant stock, Africa at 9 per cent, Latin America and the Caribbean at 5 per cent, and Oceania at 3 percent.
When compared with the size of the population in each region, shares of international migrants in 2020 were highest in Oceania, North America and Europe, where international migrants represented, respectively, 22 per cent, 16 per cent and 12 per cent of the total population. In comparison, the share of international migrants is relatively small in Asia and Africa (1.8% and 1.9%, respectively) and Latin America and the Caribbean (2.3%).
However, Asia experienced the most remarkable growth from 2000 to 2020, at 74 per cent (around 37 million people in absolute terms). Europe experienced the second largest growth during this period, with an increase of 30 million international migrants, followed by an increase of 18 million international migrants in North America and 10 million in Africa.
The proportion of international migrants varies significantly around the world.
The great majority of people do not migrate across borders; much larger numbers migrate within countries (an estimated 740 million internal migrants in 2009). That said, the increase in international migrants has been evident over time – both numerically and proportionally – and at a slightly faster rate than previously anticipated.
Although there are only a small proportion of the world’s population overall who are international migrants (3.6%), there exists wide variation at the country level. In some countries, such as United Arab Emirates, over 88% of the population are international migrants.
Multiple factors have shaped migration “corridors” over the years.
Long-term data shows that international migration is not uniform across the world but is shaped by economic, geographic, demographic and other factors resulting in distinct migration patterns, such as migration “corridors” developed over many years.
Migration corridors represent an accumulation of migratory movements over time and provide a snapshot of how migration patterns have evolved into significant foreign-born populations in specific destination countries
More than 40 per cent of all international migrants worldwide in 2020 (115 million) were born in Asia, nearly 20 per cent primarily originating from six Asian countries including India (the largest country of origin), China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Afghanistan. Mexico was the second largest country of origin, and the Russian Federation was third. Several other European countries have sizable populations of emigrants, including Ukraine, Poland, the United Kingdom, Romania and Germany.
The United States of America has been the main country of destination for international migrants since 1970. Since then, the number of foreign-born people residing in the country has more than quadrupled – from less than 12 million in 1970, to close to 51 million in 2019. Germany, the second top destination for migrants, has also observed an increase over the years, from 8.9 million in 2000 to nearly 16 million in 2020.
The largest corridors tend to be from developing countries to larger economies such as those of the United States, France, the Russian Federation, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Here are the top twenty corridors.
Available data reflect an overall increase in remittances in recent decades, from $126 billion in 2000, to $717 billion in 2019.
Remittances are financial or in-kind transfers made by migrants directly to families or communities in their countries of origin.
The World Bank compiles global data on international remittances, notwithstanding the myriad data gaps, definitional differences and methodological challenges in compiling accurate statistics. Its data, however, do not capture unrecorded flows through formal or informal channels, and the actual magnitude of global remittances are therefore likely to be larger than available estimates.
In 2019, India, China, Mexico, the Philippines and France were (in descending order) the top five remittance recipient countries, although India and China were well above the rest, with total inward remittances exceeding $67 billion for each country.
High-income countries are almost always the main source of remittances. For decades, the United States has consistently been the top remittance-sending country, with a total outflow of $71.6 billion in 2019, followed by the United Arab Emirates ($45 billion), Saudi Arabia ($31.2 billion), Switzerland ($28.2 billion), and Germany ($24.1 billion)
A lot has happened in migration in the last two years since the release of the World Migration Report 2018 in late 2017. The world has witnessed historic change at the global level with United Nations Member States coming together to finalize two global compacts on the international manifestations of migration and displacement: the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the Global Compact on Refugees. The finalization of the compacts is a result of decades-long efforts by States, international organizations, civil society organizations and other actors (such as private sector organizations) to improve how migration is governed at the international level.
In the years leading up to States committing to develop the compacts, numerous dialogues, workshops, consultations and side events at international, regional, national as well as local levels have enabled different migration “realities” to be shared and the many areas of common interest to be expanded through deeper understandings of the benefits of migration as well as the challenges it may present.
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