WORLD
MIGRATION REPORT 2005
International
Migration Trends: Facts and Figures
Source: International
Organization for Migration
Global estimates
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In 2005, it is estimated
there are between 185-192 million1 migrants
worldwide.
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In 2000, there were 175
million international migrants worldwide: one out of every 35 person
is an international migrant.
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Migrants represent 2.9 per
cent of the global population.
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Of these, almost half
(48.6%) are women.
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The stock of international
migrants rose from 82 million in 1970 to 175 million in 2000.
Global trends
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Migration flows have
shifted in recent years with changing poles of attraction for labour
migration.
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In some parts of the
world, migrant stock has actually decreased.
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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.
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This is also true for
Latin America and the Caribbean (down from 7.1% to 3.4%); Europe (down
from 22.9% to 18.7%) and for Oceania (3.7% to 3.3%).
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Only Northern America and
the former USSR have seen a sharp increase in their migrant stock
between 1970 and 2000 (from 15.9% to 23.3% for Northern America and
3.8% to 16.8% 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
1 Source:
United Nations,Trends
in Total Migrant Stock: the 2003 Revision. Database
maintained by the Population Division of the Department for
Economic and Social Affairs, 2003.
2 See 1, or table 23.3 wmr05.
Migrant
population by regions
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56.1 million in Europe (including
European part of former USSR), accounting for 7.7 per cent of European
population.
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49.9 million in Asia, accounting
for 1.4 per cent of Asian population.
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40.8 million in North America,
accounting for 12.9 per cent of the North American population.
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16.3 million in Africa, or 2 per
cent of African population.
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5.9 million in Latin America,
accounting for 1.1 per cent of Latin American population.
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5.8 million in Australia,
accounting for 18.7 per cent of Australian population.
International migrants in selected countries
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United States with 35 million migrants accounts
for 20 per cent of the world’s migrant stock.
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The Russian Federation with 13.3 million migrants
accounts for 7.6 per cent of the world’s migrant stock.
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Germany with 7.3 million migrants accounts for 4.2
per cent of the world’s migrant stock.
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China with a diaspora estimated at 35 million.
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India with a diaspora estimated at some 20
million.
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The Philippines with some
7 million overseas Filipinos.
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Countries
or areas where migrants make up more than 60 per cent of the
population: Andorra, Macao Special
Administrative Region of China, Guam, the Holy See, Monaco, Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates.
International migrants in developed and developing world
Migration is not a one-way street: most countries are both
migrant receiving and sending countries 3
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In the U.S., for every 4 persons
coming in, 1 moved out.
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In Germany and Australia, for every
3 persons coming in, 2 moved out.
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In Japan and Switzerland, for every
3 persons coming in, 1 moved out.
Benefits of migration. One indicator: International
Remittances, General Figures
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Total amount of global
international remittances in 2003 was US$ 93 billion4
and reached more than US$ 100 billion in
2004. Twice as much money may be sent through informal channels.
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About 20 per cent of annual global
international remittances flow into South Asia.
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Top
remittances receiving countries in 2002:
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Mexico received just over US$ 11 billion, or 1.73
per cent of its GDP.
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India received US$ 8.411 billion, or 1.65 per cent
of its GDP.
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The Philippines 5
received US$
7.363 billion, or 9.45 per cent of its GDP.
Egypt received US$ 2.893 billion, or 3.22 per cent
of its GDP.
Morocco received US$ 2.877 billion, or 8 per cent of
its GDP.
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US: US$ 28 billion
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Saudi Arabia: US$ 15 billion
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Germany, Belgium and Switzerland
(US$ 8 billion each)
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France: US$ 3.9 billion
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Luxembourg: US$ 3.1 billion
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Israel: US$ 3 billion
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Italy: US$ 2.6 billion
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Japan: US$ 2.3 billion
3 Source: OECD, Trends
in International Migration, 2004.
4 IMF, 2003.
5 See World Bank statistics
at: www.worldbank.org/prospects/gdf2003/gdf_statApp_web.pdf (p.198).
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