Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination

 

Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination

As of mid-2020, the number of international migrants worldwide stood at 280.6 million (or 3.6 percent of the world’s population), according to the most recent UN Population Division estimates. This incredibly handy map shows the immigrant and emigrant populations by country of origin and destination. Select a country from the dropdown menu to learn where immigrants originate and the countries in which emigrants settle. If "emigrants" is selected, bubbles will appear over top countries of destination, sized according to the estimated emigrant population in each country. (Hover over individual bubbles to learn the population sizes by country.) Selecting "immigrants" as the population indicator will display bubbles over key countries of origin for the immigrant population of a selected country based on estimated population size.

Notes: 
  1. Because governments collect statistics on international migrants in varying ways, there is no consistent cross-country definition of this population. The UN Population Division provides the mid-year estimate of international migrants based on official statistics on the foreign born, i.e., people born outside of the country of current residence. However, for countries that do not collect data on place of birth but have data on citizenship, the estimated number of noncitizens is used instead. In both cases, migrant stock includes refugees, some of whom may not be foreign born. Most of the data were obtained from population censuses; population registers and nationally representative surveys were also used for information on the number and composition of international migrants. For more information on the UN Population Division’s methodology to estimate the size of immigrant and emigrant populations, visit: www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2020_international_migrant_stock_documentation.pdf.
  2. The UN Population Division may base its population estimates on projections from national-level data collected in earlier years.
Source: 

Migration Policy Institute tabulation of data from the United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2020: Destination and Origin, Table 1: International Migrant Stock at Mid-Year by Sex and by Region, Country or Area of Destination and Origin. Available here: www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock.