A new report from the Washington-based think tank the Migration Policy Institute paints an arresting picture of burgeoning global mobility and rising migration in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report, which harvested migration data from international agencies such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Labour Organisation, found the latest estimates say there were a staggering 280.6 million global migrants in 2020—representing close to 4 per cent of the world’s 7.8 billion people.

The report says that if migrants formed their own country, it would have been the fourth most populous in the world after China, India, and the United States – and just ahead of Indonesia.

The number also represents a historically high level of migration, almost four times the level in 1960 when the population of migrants was 77.1 million.

In the last decade alone, nearly 60 million more people became international migrants and much of this increase has been driven by labour or family migration, the report says.

And the international migrant share of the world’s population also is rising, standing at 3.6 percent in 2020, up from 3.2 percent a decade earlier, and 2.6 percent in 1960.

The report says most migrants choose to go to high-income countries such as the United States or in Europe because of the greater economic and social stability they offer as well as oil-producing countries in the Gulf that attract Asian and other migrants who come largely through temporary worker programs.

It says more than 52 percent of international migrants resided in Northern America and Europe. The Northern Africa and Western Asia region followed, with 18 percent of international migrants.

The US is the world’s top destination for migrants with just 5 per cent of the global population but 18 per cent of all migrants.

The USs has more global migrants (more than 50.6 million as of 2020) than the next four receiving countries – Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom – combined at 50.2 million.

Australia, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom have joined the ranks of the top 10 destinations since 1990.

While the United States has the largest absolute number of migrants, it is not even in the top 25 countries when it comes to the proportion of migrants in an overall population.

The Gulf nations of UAE and Qatar are top with 88 per cent and 77 percent, respectively – although few of these migrants have opportunities to stay permanently or become citizens.

Among source countries of migrants, middle-income nations such as India, Mexico, Russia, China and Syria send the most migrants in absolute numbers, including refugees in the case of Syria.

“While nearly all Mexican migrants (97 per cent) reside in the US, international migrants from India are more scattered across the world, including in the UAE, the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Oman,” the report says.

The number of international migrant workers stood at 169 million in 2019, or nearly 5 percent of the global workforce, according to the ILO.

The report says migrant workers can be found across all skill levels and sectors, but are often concentrated in lower-skilled industries such as agriculture, construction, and tourism.

“Close to 70 per cent of all migrants of working age (15 and older) are workers. Women represented 70 million (almost 42 per cent) of all international migrant workers,” the report says.

In 2020, 48 per cent (134.9 million) of all international migrants worldwide were women or girls, according to the UN>

The number of female migrants grew by 26 per cent over the past decade, up from 107 million in 2010, the report says.

While the number of male migrants grew slightly faster, by 28 per cent during the same period.

“Most migrant women move for work, family, or education. Some leave their countries due to man-made or natural disasters. Women and girls made up approximately half of the refugees and other vulnerable humanitarian migrants, the report says.

Of the 280.6 million international migrants in 2020, 35.5 million were children under the age of 18 – the highest level ever recorded, according to figures supplied to MPI by the International Data Alliance for Children on the Move.

The report said money sent by migrant households to family and friends in the origin country, referred to as remittances, helps to keep loved ones out of poverty, weather a temporary economic or health crisis, or support the education of migrants’ children.

“In some cases, remittances are an important source of investment in national education, health, and infrastructure projects. Collectively, remittances are larger than the foreign direct investment and official development assistance received by low- and middle-income countries,” the report says.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, officially recorded remittances hit a record-high US $719 billion in 2019, including $548 billion to low- and middle-income countries,” the report said.

The numbers dropped in 2020 because of pandemic-related disruptions, though not as sharply as initially predicted.

“For 2020, $702 billion was recorded in remittances through formal channels, with $539 billion going to low- and middle-income countries,” the report said.

“The top five remittance-receiving countries in 2020 were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt. Combined these five countries received more than $250 billion (36 per cent) of all officially recorded remittances.

“While the absolute total of remittances is important, it may be a small source of income for some countries. For instance, remittances represent just 3 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“When remittances are measured as a proportion of GDP, the top receiving countries are very different. In 2020, Tonga (38 per cent of GDP), Somalia (35 per cent), Lebanon (33 per cent), and South Sudan and Kyrgyz Republic (29 per cent each) relied on the remittances the most,” the report said.

It said around 6.1 million students were studying outside of their country of origin in 2019, up from 4.8 million in 2015 and 2 million in 2000, according to UNESCO data.

The top five destinations for international students were the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Russian Federation.

Combined, these countries hosted 43 percent of global students. The top five sending countries of international students in 2019 were China, India, Vietnam, Germany, and France.

The report said the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide – including refugees, people in refugee-like situations, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs) was more than 100 million.

The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that this number includes 26.6 million refugees, 4.4 million asylum seekers, and 50.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

This represents one percent of the global population and is the equivalent of the 14th^h most populous country in the world.

Read the full report here: Article: Top Statistics on Global Migration and Mi.. | migrationpolicy.org