The number of international migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million in 2019, an increase of 51 million since 2010, according to new estimates released by the United Nations on 18 September.
The UN identifies India as the lead country of origin, accounting for about 18 million persons living abroad, with migrants from Mexico constituting the second largest diaspora (12 million), followed by China (11 million), the Russian Federation (10 million) and the Syrian Arab Republic (8 million).
International migrants comprised 3.5% of the global population, compared to 2.8% in the year 2000, according to the UN’s International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset covering 232 countries released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
This detailed report provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world, based on official national statistics on the foreign-born or the foreign population obtained from population censuses, population registers or nationally representative surveys.
Liu Zhenmin, UN under-secretary-general for DESA, said: “These data are critical for understanding the important role of migrants and migration in the development of both countries of origin and destination. Facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people will contribute much to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Big variation across regions
The share of international migrants in total population varies considerably across geographic regions with the highest proportions recorded in Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand) (21.2%) and Northern America (16%) and the lowest in Latin America and the Caribbean (1.8%), Central and Southern Asia (1%) and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (0.8%).
Most international migrants move between countries located within the same region. A majority of international migrants in sub-Saharan Africa (89%), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (83%), Latin America and the Caribbean (73%), and Central and Southern Asia (63 %) originated from the region in which they reside. By contrast, most of the international migrants that lived in Northern America (98%), Oceania (88%) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (59%) were born outside their region of residence.
Forced displacements across international borders continues to rise. Between 2010 and 2017, the global number of refugees and asylum seekers increased by about 13 million, accounting for close to a quarter of the increase in the number of all international migrants. Northern Africa and Western Asia hosted around 46 per cent of the global number of refugees and asylum seekers, followed by sub-Saharan Africa (21%).
Turning to gender composition, women comprise slightly less than half of all international migrants in 2019. The share of women and girls in the global number of international migrants fell slightly, from 49% in 2000 to 48% in 2019. The share of migrant women was highest in Northern America (52%) and Europe (51%), and lowest in sub-Saharan Africa (47%) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (36%).
In terms of age, one out of every seven international migrants is below the age of 20 years. In 2019, the dataset showed that 38 million international migrants, equivalent to 14% of global migrant population, were under 20 years of age. Sub-Saharan Africa hosted the highest proportion of young persons among all international migrants (27%), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, and Northern Africa and Western Asia (about 22% each).
Three out of every four international migrants are of working age (20-64 years). In 2019, 202 million international migrants, equivalent to 74% of the global migrant population, were between the ages of 20 and 64. More than three quarters of international migrants were of working age in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Europe and Northern America.
