Net Migration, 2024

Where do we source data on immigrant and emigrant stocks from?
Data on immigrant and emigrant stocks is sourced from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

What is the difference between an immigrant and an emigrant?
Migrants have both an origin and a destination, meaning that international migrants can be viewed from two directions:

Emigrant: someone leaving their country of birth (origin)
Immigrant: someone moving to a country that they were not born in (destination)
How does the UN define a migrant?
Based on the data source – the United Nations Population Division – an international migrant is someone who has been living for one year or longer in a country other than the one in which he or she was born.

This means that many foreign workers and international students are counted as migrants. Additionally, the UN considers refugees and, in some cases, their descendants (such as Palestinians born in refugee camps outside of the Palestinian territories) to be international migrants.

Estimates of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in various countries are also included in the total counts.

Tourists, foreign-aid workers, temporary workers employed abroad for less than a year and overseas military personnel typically are not counted as migrants.

Where does the UN sources its estimates from?
The UN provides estimates of global migration using a combination of population census; demographic data; and, where data is not available, modeled estimates.

For the majority of countries, the UN defines immigrants or emigrants on the basis of country of birth. This means an immigrant is defined as someone who was born in a country that is different from their current country of residence. This is the case, even if they acquire citizenship in the country that they have moved to.

However, the UN also notes that for some countries data on the place of birth is not available. In these cases, the country of citizenship is used as the basis of migrant status.

Does the UN measure migrant stocks or flows?
Data on migration from the UN measures the stock of migrants in a given country, which is the total number at any given time. This does not measure the flow of migrants.