Understanding international migration requires analysis of both the flow of people across international borders each year as well as what demographers refer to as “migrant stock”.
Glossary
migrant stock
all persons who reside in the country at a given point in time who are either born in another country or who do not hold national citizenship, including stateless persons.
Source
United Nations Expert Group on Migration Statistics, 2020.
This section provides a brief overview of trends regarding international migration. These include international migrant stock and flow (see more about these concepts and Data for policymaking); migration as a proportion of the world’s total population; and the regional, gender and age distribution of migrants, among others. The discussion begins with figures on stock, because these data have been collected in a more systematic way than some of the others. All data on migrants are taken from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Additional data on displacement are provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The discussion below focuses on trends prior to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global mobility. This is because not much is yet known about specific impacts, even though it is already clear that the pandemic resulted in restrictions to mobility worldwide.
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Figure 1. Number of international migrants in mid-year 2020
Source
Note: Infographic adapted from the Migration Data Portal (based on UN DESA), 2021.
To Go Further
- McAuliffe, M. and B. Khadria, World Migration Report 2020, 2019. See, especially, Part I: Data and information on migration and migrants.
- United Nations Expert Group on Migration Statistics, Draft Report on Conceptual frameworks and Concepts and Definitions on International Migration, 2020. Background document prepared for Statistical Commission 52nd Session, March 2021.
Overall number of international migrants
The number of people living outside of their countries of origin has grown significantly. In 2000, the total was 173 million; in 2020, it reached 281 million. These numbers are only estimates, as countries do not report statistics on a regular basis, particularly in between censuses. Moreover, countries use different definitions of an international migrant in collecting these data. In some cases, the data refer to those of foreign birth; in others, they refer to those of foreign nationality, even if those people were born on the territory of the reporting country. Usually, a migrant is defined as one who lives outside one’s own country for a continuous period of one year, but these criteria are not strictly adhered to in national counting of migrants.
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Figure 2. International migrant stock between 2000 and 2020
Source
based on UN DESA Population Division, 2021.
In any case, it is safe to assert that the international migrant population grew at a faster rate than the total population. Yet, migrants remain a relatively small and stable proportion of the world’s total population. In 2000, 2.8 per cent of the world’s total population were international migrants; by 2020, the number was 3.6 per cent.
Contexts of origin and destination
The distribution of international migrants varies by region as well as origin and destination countries. In 2020, the region with the largest number of emigrants was Asia (with 114.9 million). India was the largest country of origin of international migrants (17.9 million), followed by Mexico (11.2 million emigrants), the Russian Federation (10.8 million) and China (10.5 million).
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Figure 3. Top countries of origin of migrants in 2020 (number of emigrants in millions)
Source
based on UN DESA Population Division, 2021.
Europe was the largest destination region for migrants (having received 86.7 million migrants), closely followed by Asia (85.6 million). Notably, the top 20 countries of destination accounted for two thirds of all international migrants. Most of these migrants (18 per cent) reside in the United States of America. Most of the countries in the top 10 have held their positions consistently since 2000. However, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom have moved to third and fifth in 2020, with a larger share of international migrants, from being eighth and ninth in 2000 (UN DESA Population Division, 2020a: 10).
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Figure 4. Top countries of destination for migrants in 2020 (number of immigrants in millions)
Source
based on UN DESA Population Division, 2021.
Approximately two thirds of international migrants live in high-income countries. During this century, international migration has grown at a faster rate in high-income countries than in lower-income countries. Nevertheless, much international migration involves movement within regions and even subregions. Almost 50 per cent of international migrants live in their region of origin. The largest intraregional flows are in Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (UN DESA Population Division, 2020a).
Characteristics of migrant population: Gender and age distribution
Just under half of international migrants are female (48 per cent). In 2020, women and girls represented 134.9 million migrants worldwide, with men and boys representing 145.6 million migrants worldwide.
Most international migrants are of working age. In comparison to the national population, migrants are more concentrated in the working ages: 73 per cent of international migrants are 20–64 years old, compared to 57 per cent of the total population. The median age of migrants worldwide was 39.1, meaning that half of all migrants were older than 39 years old and half of all migrants younger than 39 years old. Migrants in Northern America, Europe and Oceania tend to be older than those in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Women tend to dominate the oldest age groups (see Figure 6).
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Figure 5. Age distribution of migrants in comparison with total population in 2020
Source
based on UN DESA Population Division, 2021.
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Figure 6. Age and sex distribution of international migrants in 2020
Source
based on UN DESA Population Division, 2021.
Displacement: Refugees and asylum seekers
The number of refugees globally reached a record high of 26,4 million by the end of 2020 (United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], 2021: 2). The rate at which the number of refugees was growing began to slow down in 2012. However, in 2018 it began to increase again. As well, an estimated 4.1 million people had requested international protection and were awaiting refugee status (these people are also known as asylum seekers). Overall, the number of people displaced due to war, conflict, persecution, human rights violations and events significantly disturbing public order grew to the record number of 82,4 million in 2020 (UNHCR, 2021). Of these, 34,4 million had been displaced across international borders (UNHCR, 2021). Between 2010 and 2020, at least 100 million people were displaced. Of these, only a fraction found a solution (UNHCR, 2020). Four fifths are living in low- and middle-income countries, and displaced people make up 50 per cent of the migrant population in these countries. By contrast, they make up only 3 per cent of the migrant population in high-income countries (UN DESA Population Division, 2020a).
Even though the number of refugees and asylum seekers has been increasing, only approximately 12 per cent of the international migrant stock in 2020 are refugees and asylum seekers (UN DESA Population Division, 2020a).
Information on migration flows
Official statistics on the annual flow of migrants from origin to destination countries are much weaker than statistics on the stock of migrants. Data and estimates from international organizations, academics and other researchers fill some of the gaps in flow data. The data for Member States of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are among the most comprehensive.
While not representative of other regions, data from International Migration Outlook (which covers OECD countries) indicate common categories for the admission of migrants (OECD, 2020). In 2019, the main categories for admission with a permanent visa were:
- Family reunification purposes (36 per cent of those granted permanent residence in 2019, totalling more than 1.8 million new permanent migrants).
- Free movement agreements (28 per cent entered under the framework of such agreements).
- Humanitarian purposes (under 10 per cent in 2019, continuing a sharp decrease since 2016).
- Work (14 per cent of all entries with a permanent visa, totalling 659,500 in 2019. Entries for temporary work exceeded 5 million in 2019 [OECD, 2020]).
- Accompanying family (6 per cent in 2019).
- Other reasons, such as studying (7 per cent in 2019, amounting to more than 4 million enrolled international students in total).
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Figure 7. Permanent admissions to OECD countries by year
Source
Adapted from OECD, 2020.
Key messages
- International migration is a large and growing phenomenon (281 million international migrants in 2020) but international migrants still represent only 3.6 per cent of the world’s population.
- International migrants are about equally divided by sex, but a large majority are of working age. Family reunification is a major category of admission of international migrants. Other admission categories include free movement agreements, humanitarian admissions and work visas.
Key messages
- International migration is a large and growing phenomenon (281 million international migrants in 2020) but international migrants still represent only 3.6 per cent of the world’s population.
- International migrants are about equally divided by sex, but a large majority are of working age. Family reunification is a major category of admission of international migrants. Other admission categories include free movement agreements, humanitarian admissions and work visas.