Migration

Fiona Spooner; Tuna Acisu; Hannah Ritchie; Esteban Ortiz-Ospina; Max Roser; Marcel Gerber

Hundreds of millions of people live in a country that is different from the one in which they were born. In some countries, the majority of the population are immigrants.

Migration has played a crucial role in economic development, education and mobility. The transfer of money from migrants working overseas to family or friends in their home country – remittances – can be an important source of income in many countries.

On this page you can find our writing and data visualizations relating to migration.

Research & Writing

A colorful, abstract data visualization featuring horizontal bands of various colors, including teal, blue, purple, orange, and brown. These bands are overlaid with flowing lines in different hues that crisscross and interact, creating intricate patterns. The lines represent connections or relationships between the different color bands, suggesting data movement or transitions. The background is a pale cream color, enhancing the contrast and visibility of the colored bands and lines. No specific labels or data sources are visible in the image.

Most international migrants don’t move very far from their home countries

Long-distance moves are becoming more common, but they remain the exception. For most, international migration still means crossing a nearby border, not an ocean.

Simon van Teutem and Tuna Acisu

The image features an abstract design with flowing, wavy lines in varying shades of green and purple.

The great global redistributor we never hear about: money sent or brought back by migrants

Migrants send or bring back over three times the amount of global foreign aid. Cutting transaction fees could make this support even more effective in reducing poverty.

Simon van Teutem and Tuna Acisu

How do countries measure immigration, and how accurate is this data?

Countries estimate how many people move in and out using censuses, surveys, and border records. How accurate are these numbers, and can they account for illegal migration?

Simon van Teutem and Tuna Acisu

Explore data on migration, refugees, and asylum seekers

Migration data: our sources and definitions

Where does our migration data come from? How are these metrics defined?

Explore data on where people migrate from and to

All charts

Cite this work

Our articles and data visualizations rely on work from many different people and organizations. When citing this topic page, please also cite the underlying data sources. This topic page can be cited as:

Fiona Spooner, Tuna Acisu, Hannah Ritchie, Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, Max Roser and Marcel Gerber (2022) - “Migration” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/migration' [Online Resource]

BibTeX citation

@article{owid-migration,
    author = {Fiona Spooner and Tuna Acisu and Hannah Ritchie and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser and Marcel Gerber},
    title = {Migration},
    journal = {Our World in Data},
    year = {2022},
    note = {https://ourworldindata.org/migration}
}

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