The Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008 attempts to present the numbers and facts behind the stories of international migration and remittances, drawing on authoritative, publicly available data. It provides a snapshot of statistics on immigration, emigration, skilled emigration, and remittance flows for 194 countries, and 13 regional and income groups. Some interesting facts from the Factbook: Worldwide remittance flows are estimated to have exceeded $318 billion in 2007, of which developing countries received $240 billion. However, the true size, including unrecorded flows through the formal and informal channels, is believed to be significantly larger.
. - Nearly 200 million people, or 3 percent of the world population, live outside their countries of birth. Current migration flows, relative to population, are weaker than those of the last decades of the nineteenth century.
. - The volume of South-South migration is almost as large as that of South-North migration.
. - International migration is dominated by voluntary migration, which is driven by economic factors. In 2005, refugees numbered only 13.5 million, or just 7 percent of international migrants.
Also See: Migration and Remittances
Remittances: An Economic Force - An analysis of the recent growth in remittances and whether these funds can be used more efficiently.
Some Recent Data: Top Receivers of Remittances The top five recipients of migrant remittances in 2007 were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and France :
Countries receiving the most remittances, 2007 (estimates in US$ billion) | India | 27.0 | | China | 25.7 | | Mexico | 25.0 | | Philippines | 17.0 | France | 12.5 |
Sources: Development Prospects Group, World Bank
Top Senders of Remittances While South-South migration nearly equals South-North migration, rich countries are still the main source of remittances: Countries from where most remittances were sent, 2006 (in US$ billion) | | US | 42.2 | | Saudi Arabia | 15.6 | | Switzerland | 13.8 | | Germany | 12.3 | | Russia | 11.4 |
Sources: Development Prospects Group, World Bank
Top Emigration Countries Countries from where the largest number of migrants originated were Mexico and Russia, India, China, Ukraine (6.1 million) and Bangladesh ( 4.9 million). Countries sending the largest number of migrants, 2005 (in millions) | | Mexico | 11.5 | | Russia | 11.5 | | India | 10.0 | | China | 7.3 | | Ukraine | 6.1 | | Bangladesh | 4.9 |
Sources: Development Prospects Group, World Bank
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Top Immigration Countries Countries receiving the largest number of migrants, 2005 (in millions) | | US | 38.4 | | Russia | 12.1 | | Germany | 10.1 | | Ukraine | 6.8 | | France | 6.5 | | Saudi Arabia | 6.4 | | Canada | 6.1 | | India | 5.7 |
Sources: UN Population Division
Top Migration Corridors - excluding former Soviet Union Top Migration Corridors, 2005 (number of migrants - in millions) | | Mexico - US | 10.3 | | Bangladesh - India | 3.5 | | Turkey - Germany | 2.7 | | India - UAE | 2.2 | | Philippines - US | 1.6 | | Afghanistan - Iran | 1.6 | | Germany - US | 1.4 | | Algeria - France | 1.4 | | India - Saudi Arabia | 1.3 |
Sources: Development Prospects Group, World Bank Top Emigration Countries of Physicians - 2000 Top Emigration Countries of Physicians, 2000 (number of emigrated physicians - in thousands) | | India | 20.3 | | U.K. | 12.2 | | Philippines | 9.8 | | Germany | 8.8 | | Italy | 5.8 |
Sources: Docquier and Bhargava (2006) |
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