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There are more than 200 million estimated international migrants in the world today.1
Migrants comprise 3.0 per cent of the global population.2
The number of the migrants worldwide would constitute the fifth most populous country in the world.3
Women account for 49.6 per cent of global migrants.4
In 2007, remittance flows are estimated at USD 337 billion worldwide, USD 251 billion of which went to developing countries.5
There are roughly 20 to 30 million unauthorized migrants worldwide, comprising around 10 to 15 per cent of the world's immigrant stock.6
In 2007, there were 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in at least 52 countries as a result of conflict compared to 24.5 million IDPs in 52 countries the year before.7
In 2007, the global number of refugees reached an estimated 11.4 million persons.8
Migration flows have shifted in recent years with changing poles of attraction for labour migration.
In some parts of the world, migrant stock has actually decreased.
- Although the number of Asian migrants has increased from 28.1 million in 1970 to 43.8 million in 2000, Asia's share of global migrant stock decreased from 34.5 per cent to 25 per cent over the same period.
- Africa has also seen a decline in its share of international migrants: from 12 per cent in 1970 to 9 per cent in 2000
- This is also true for Latin America and the Caribbean (down from 7.1 per cent to 3.4 per cent); Europe (down from 22.9 per cent to 18.7 per cent) and for Oceania (3.7 per cent to 3.3 per cent).
- Only Northern America and the former USSR have seen a sharp increase in their migrant stock between 1970 and 2000 (from 15.9 per cent to 23.3 per cent for Northern America and 3.8 per cent to 16.8 per cent for the Former USSR). In the latter case however, this increase has more to do with the redefinition of borders than with the actual movement of people.
The stock of international migrants remains concentrated in relatively few countries.
- 775 per cent of all international migrants are in 12 per cent of all countries.10
Sources
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1
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World Migration 2008: Managing Labour Mobility in the Evolving Global Economy |
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2
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United Nations' Trends in Total Migrant Stock: The 2005 Revision, http://esa.un.org/migration |
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3
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World Bank's Migration and Development Brief 5 (July 10, 2008), Revisions to Remittance Trends 2007, http://go.worldbank.org/NN93K4Q420 |
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4
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See [2] |
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5
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World Bank's Migration and Development Brief 5 (July 10, 2008), Revisions to Remittance Trends 2007, http://go.worldbank.org/NN93K4Q420 |
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6
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See [2] |
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7
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Norwegian Refugee Council – Internal Displacement Monitoring Center's Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2007, http://www.internal-displacement.org |
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8
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Does not include some 4.6 million Palestinian refugees under the responsibility of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' 2007 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons, http://www.unhcr.org/statistics |
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9
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All data from "Global trends" are from World Migration 2005: Costs and Benefits of International Migration unless noted otherwise. |
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10
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United Nations' Trends in Total Migrant Stock: The 2003 Revision. |
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