Migration Statistics

Did you know?

There were nearly 200 million international migrants in 2005, counting only those who have lived outside their country for more than a year and including 9.2 million refugees. This is 3% of the world's total population.

Of that 200 million:

  • 60% live in the developed world
  • About half are women
  • 20% live in the United States
  • 7.6% live in the Russian Federation
  • About 4% live in Germany, the Ukraine and India each

From 1990 to 2000, international migration accounted for 56% of the population growth in the developed world, and just 3% in the developing world. From 1995 to 2000, immigration accounted for 75% of the population growth in the US, while during that same period Europe's population would have declined by 4.4 million without immigration.
International migrants make up the following percentage of population:

  • Australia: 18.7%
  • North America: 12.9%
  • Europe: 7.7% (includes the European part of the former USSR)
  • Between 1 and 2% of the populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America

The top 3 remittance-receiving countries in 2004 were:

  • Mexico: $16 billion
  • India: $9.9 billion
  • The Philippines: $8.5 billion

The top 3 remittance-sending countries in 2004 were:

  • United States: $28 billion per year
  • Saudi Arabia: $15 billion
  • Belgium, Germany and Switzerland: $8 billion each

With respect to irregular migration, estimates suggest the following numbers, which are all well below 5% of the total populations:

  • 20 million migrants have irregular status in India
  • 10 million in the US
  • 5 million in Europe

Migrant smugglers and human traffickers make an estimated $10 billion profit each year. Every year an estimated 600-800,000 people are trafficked, that is, forced by those who facilitated their migration into providing labor or sex after they arrive, in situations from which they cannot escape.


-- excerpts from Migration in an Interconnected World: New Directions for Action, the report of the Global Commission on International Migration, October 2005, ps. 83-85. Available in English, French, Spanish, German and Portugese at www-gcim.org.

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