High income | Net migration
Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens. Development relevance: Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge. Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. Limitations and exceptions: International migration is the component of population change most difficult to measure and estimate reliably. Thus, the quality and quantity of the data used in the estimation and projection of net migration varies considerably by country. Furthermore, the movement of people across international boundaries, which is very often a response to changing socio-economic, political and environmental forces, is subject to a great deal of volatility. Refugee movements, for instance, may involve large numbers of people moving across boundaries in a short time. For these reasons, projections of future international migration levels are the least robust part of current population projections and reflect mainly a continuation of recent levels and trends in net migration. Statistical concept and methodology: The United Nations Population Division provides data on net migration and migrant stock. Because data on migrant stock is difficult for countries to collect, the United Nations Population Division takes into account the past migration history of a country or area, the migration policy of a country, and the influx of refugees in recent periods when deriving estimates of net migration. The data to calculate these estimates come from a variety of sources, including border statistics, administrative records, surveys, and censuses. When there is insufficient data, net migration is derived through the difference between the overall population growth rate and the rate of natural increase (the difference between the birth rate and the death rate) during the same period. Such calculations are usually made for intercensal periods. The estimates are also derived from the data on foreign-born population - people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population - that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside - are used as estimates.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
High income
Records
63
Source
High income | Net migration
1960 550159
1961 657601
1962 759243
1963 846521
1964 766174
1965 835231
1966 860020
1967 650886
1968 763848
1969 1009288
1970 1533016
1971 1953241
1972 1868148
1973 1801836
1974 1725212
1975 1441779
1976 1297829
1977 1423306
1978 1437771
1979 1440377
1980 1817835
1981 1245404
1982 1182390
1983 1354184
1984 1330721
1985 1536738
1986 1747684
1987 1886042
1988 2016033
1989 2314683
1990 1583243
1991 3177744
1992 2883611
1993 2686748
1994 2673922
1995 2520532
1996 2841042
1997 2878724
1998 2840123
1999 2796325
2000 3033492
2001 2744716
2002 3349963
2003 3445382
2004 3572568
2005 4278040
2006 5019209
2007 5823473
2008 5438027
2009 4579667
2010 3508213
2011 3951114
2012 3959397
2013 3727118
2014 3420312
2015 3930907
2016 3973186
2017 4292164
2018 4353899
2019 4082105
2020 788160
2021 2122893
2022
High income | Net migration
Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens. Development relevance: Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge. Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. Limitations and exceptions: International migration is the component of population change most difficult to measure and estimate reliably. Thus, the quality and quantity of the data used in the estimation and projection of net migration varies considerably by country. Furthermore, the movement of people across international boundaries, which is very often a response to changing socio-economic, political and environmental forces, is subject to a great deal of volatility. Refugee movements, for instance, may involve large numbers of people moving across boundaries in a short time. For these reasons, projections of future international migration levels are the least robust part of current population projections and reflect mainly a continuation of recent levels and trends in net migration. Statistical concept and methodology: The United Nations Population Division provides data on net migration and migrant stock. Because data on migrant stock is difficult for countries to collect, the United Nations Population Division takes into account the past migration history of a country or area, the migration policy of a country, and the influx of refugees in recent periods when deriving estimates of net migration. The data to calculate these estimates come from a variety of sources, including border statistics, administrative records, surveys, and censuses. When there is insufficient data, net migration is derived through the difference between the overall population growth rate and the rate of natural increase (the difference between the birth rate and the death rate) during the same period. Such calculations are usually made for intercensal periods. The estimates are also derived from the data on foreign-born population - people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population - that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside - are used as estimates.
Publisher
The World Bank
Origin
High income
Records
63
Source