The Global Migration Indicators 2018 report is a snapshot of what we know about migration today. The data is organized along 17 key migration themes and based largely on data taken from Global Mi-gration Data Portal – IOM’s one-stop-shop for international migration data. The report aims to provide a baseline for objectives in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and migration-related targets included in the Sustainable Development Goals.

1. MIGRANT POPULATION (STOCKS)

258 Million
INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS
were counted globally in 2017 – people residing in a country other than their country of birth. This represented 3.4% of the world’s total population.

2. MIGRANT FLOWS

5 Million
FOREIGN-BORN PERSONS
entered OECD countries in 2016.

3. LABOUR MIGRANTS

150.3 Million
MIGRANT WORKERS
were counted globally in 2015.

4. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

4.8 Million
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
were counted in 2016, up from 2 million in 2000.

5. REMITTANCES

$466 Billion
OF REMITTANCES
were sent to low- and middle-income countries in 2017. This is more than three times the size of official development assistance.

6. DISPLACEMENT

68.5 Million
INDIVIDUALS
were forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations, or other reasons by the end of 2017.

7. IRREGULAR MIGRANTS

50 Million
IRREGULAR MIGRANTS
were estimated to be living around the world in 2009.

8. REFUGEES

25.4 Million
REGISTERED REFUGEES
were counted in 2017.

9. RESETTLEMENT

102,800
REFUGEES
were admitted for resettlement worldwide in 2017.

10. MISSING MIGRANTS

6,163
MIGRANTS
lost their lives or went missing during migration in 2017, at a minimum.

11. TRAFFICKING & MODERN SLAVERY

25 Million
VICTIMS OF FORCED LABOUR
were estimated in 2016. Out of those, 5 million may have crossed an international border.

12. MIGRANT SMUGGLING

2.5 Million
IRREGULAR MIGRANTS
were smuggled for an economic return of USD 5.5-7 billion in 2016.

13. RETURNS

72,176
VOLUNTARY RETURNS
were assisted by IOM in 2017 worldwide.

14. INTEGRATION AND WELL-BEING

$ 6.7 Trillion
CONTRIBUTION
Migrants contributed 6.7 trillion US dollars to global GDP in 2015 – a share of 9.4% of the total global GDP that year.

15. CHILDREN

14%
CHILDREN
In 2017, children represented 14 per cent of the stock of international migrants.

15. WOMEN

48.8%
WOMEN
In 2017, women represented 48.8 per cent of the stock of international migrants.

16. ENVIRONMENT

18.8 Million
PEOPLE
in 135 countries were newly displaced by sudden-onset disasters within their own countries in 2017.

17. GOVERNANCE

39
COUNTRIES
have taken part in IOM´s Migration Governance Indicators project as of 2018.

18. POTENTIAL MIGRATION

66 Million
ADULTS
or 1.3% of the world’s adult population, had plans to move permanently to another country in the next 12 months in 2015.

19. PUBLIC OPINION

22%
OF THE WORLD´S POPULATION
is generally more likely to want national immigration to be kept at its present level (22%) or increased (21%), rather than decreased (34%) in 2015.

20. MIGRATION DATA CAPACITY

87%+
COUNTRIES
asked about country of birth, 75% asked for citizenship and 50% for the year or period of arrival, in their 2010 censuses.

 

* These figures are based on 2017 data where available. Where this was not possible, the latest available data was taken.