Migration data in Western Asia

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Mobility in Western Asia1 has deep historical roots, and it has also witnessed a lot of voluntary and forced migratory movements in the past century. The economic and political diversity in the sub-region have led to it being home to some of the largest migrant populations as well as the largest and most protracted displacement situations globally. The surge in employment opportunities in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)2 countries following the oil booms attracted millions of labour migrants from within and outside Western Asia. As a share of the total population, the GCC countries continue to host the highest shares of migrants in the world. In addition to millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) hosted in Western Asia, the subregion also hosts high numbers of refugees. The country hosting the highest number of refugees (Turkey) as well as the country of origin of the highest number of refugees (Syrian Arab Republic) are both in the sub-region.

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LABOUR MIGRATION

In 2019

69%

of international migrants were migrant workers

169 million

migrant workers globally

5 %

of global workforce were migrant workers


Source: ILO, 2021.


I honestly don’t know how my family would have survived if my wife didn’t get the opportunity to work abroad,” said Modi, who grew up along Kenya’s coast. “Life was very difficult, and the few jobs available did not pay. But with the money my wife has been sending us from Saudi Arabia, our lives have been transformed."

Thanks to her job abroad, Modi's wife Aisha has been able to send around USD 1,200 in remittances to her husband and their two daughters each month. Read more on IOM storyteller...


DEFINITIONS

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LABOUR MIGRATION

There is no internationally accepted statistical definition of labour migration. However, the main actors in labour migration are migrant workers, which the International Labour Organization (ILO) defines as: 
A person who “is to be engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national” (
United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990, Article 2(1)).

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Key trends

According to the latest available estimates, there were 169 million international migrant workers globally in 2019 and they constituted 4.9 per cent of the global labour force (ILO, 2021). These international migrant workers made up approximately 69 per cent of the world’s international migrant population of working age (aged 15 and over) in 2019  (ILO, 2021). 

Crossing national borders to work is one of the key motivations behind international migration, whether driven by economic inequalities, seeking employment, or both. The additional impact of economic, political and environmental crises and shifting demographics, with ageing populations in some parts of the world and a “youth bulge” in others, contribute to rising labour migration (Ozel et al., 2017).  

According to the ILO's most recent estimates, there were an estimated 169 million migrant workers globally in 2019 (ILO, 2021). Over two-thirds of all migrant workers were concentrated in high-income countries and approximately 60.6 per cent were located in three subregions: 24.2 per cent in Northern, Southern and Western Europe; 22.1 per cent in Northern America; and 14.3 per cent in the Arab States (ibid.). The importance of these top three subregions in terms of the number of international migrant workers they host has not diminished over time. According to previous estimates, the same three subregions hosted the biggest shares of all migrant workers: 60.2 per cent in 2013 and 60.8 per cent in 2017 (ibid.).

The five OECD countries with the highest inflows of migrant workers in 2023 were United Kingdom (283,000, +48%), Canada (145,000, +7%), Germany (93,000, +4%), Japan (90,000, +14%) and United States (82,000, -43%) (OECD, 2024), The countries with the most significant increases in labour migration from 2022 to 2023 were the Republic of Korea (+129%), Greece, +110%), Australia, (+68%), Austria (+50%) and the United Kingdom (+48%). Those with the largest decreases were Lithuania (-55%), New Zealand (-46%), Italy (-43%), the United States (-43%) and Estonia (-37%) (ibid.).

Between 2010 and 2019, the number of international migrant workers in Africa increased from 9.6 million to 14.5 million respectively. The average annual growth rate among migrant workers (4.8%) is higher than that of the overall African population (2.7%) (African Union, 2024African Union Commission and JLMP partners, 2021). In 2019, international migrant workers accounted for 2.8 per cent of the total labour force in Africa. Regionally 82 per cent of the migrant workers in Africa in 2019 were in East Africa (4.1 million), West Africa (4.3 million) and Southern Africa (3.5 million), 10 per cent in Central Africa (1.5 million) and Northern Africa hosted 8 per cent (1.2 million) (GMDAC calculations based on African Union Commission and JLMP partners, 2021).

Adults aged 25–64 constituted 86.5 per cent of all migrant workers (ILO, 2021). Approximately 10 per cent of all migrant workers in 2019 were between 15 and 24 years old (ibid.). The share of older workers (aged 65 and over) among migrant workers constituted 3.6 per cent (ibid.). In Africa, there were 6.7 million young international migrants (defined here as ages 15-35 years old), constituting 46 per cent of all international migrant workers that year, and 60 per cent of them were male (GMDAC calculation based on African Union Commission and JLMP Partners, 2021).

In 2019, the services sector was the main employer of migrant workers, employing 66.2 per cent of all migrant workers and almost 80 per cent of total female migrant workers worldwide in (ILO, 2021). A growing demand for labour in the care economy (including in health and domestic work), where the labour force is predominantly female, could partially explain the high share of women migrant workers in the services sector (ibid.). As for the remaining migrant workers, 26.7 per cent were in industry and 7.1 per cent in agriculture (ibid.). In Africa in 2019, the top three sectors in which migrants were employed were in agriculture, forestry and fishing (27.5%) followed by wholesale and retail trade; transport and storage; accommodation and food service activities (21.9%) and public administration and defence, education, human health and social work activities (21%) (African Union, 2021).

Migrant entrepreneurship is an important sector, having increased in the OECD, from 11 per cent of self-employed migrants in the OECD in 2006 to 17 per cent in 2022 (OECD, 2024). In two-thirds of OECD countries, immigrants are more likely to be self-employed han the native-born employed population (ibid.). In 2022, self-employment accounted for 13.8% of the foreign-born employed population in 37 OECD countries, compared to 13.4% among native-born. However, there are major variations between countries (ibid).

Migrant self-employment created almost 4 million jobs from 2011 to 2021 in 25 OECD countries, a 15 per cent growth in employment in these years. Through self-employment, a working-age migrant creates 0.2 jobs on average (ibid.). In some countries this number is noticeably higher, such as such as in Colombia (0.7), Czechia (0.3) or the United States (ibid.).

Based on Migration Governance Indicators (MGI) from 100 national and 69 local-level assessments, 39 per cent have measures to facilitate labour mobility, with countries more likely to have defined labour migration management programmes if they engage formally with the private sector for setting agendas and implementing policy regarding migration issues (MGI, 2024). Of the countries assessed, 33 per cent had measures to support international students to enter the labour market and monitored the labour market demand for migrant workers (ibid).


Gender and labour mobility

Among all migrant workers worldwide in 2019, 70 million or approximately 41.5 per cent were female (ILO, 2021). Male migrant workers made up 99 million or 58.5 per cent of the total (ibid.). Women represent a smaller share of the total of international migrant workers because they also represent a lower share of the total international migrants (47.9%) and they have a relatively lower labour market participation rate compared to men (59.8% vs. 77.5%) (ibid.). However, some significant regional variations existed in the share of women among total migrant workers. In Northern, Southern and Western Europe, women represented more than 50.0 per cent of all migrant workers; in the Arab States, the share was below 20.0 per cent (ibid.).

In Africa, women accounted for 39 per cent of migrant workers in 2019, slightly lower than the share of women in the total labour force (45%), but an increase from 27 per cent in 2010 (African Union, 2024African Union, 2021). Women working in informal labour or unpaid domestic labour may not be represented in these statistics.

Though the global labour force participation of migrant women was lower than that of migrant men, the labour force participation rate of migrant women was higher than that of non-migrant women in many countries. High-income countries had the highest participation gap with 12 percentage points between migrant women and non-migrant women, followed by lower-middle income countries (with a participation gap of 10 percentage points) (ILO, 2021). The lower labour force participation of migrant women in low-income countries may be attributed to the prevalence of informal employment, which is not fully captured in ILO estimates within these nations (Guallar Ariño, E., 2023).




About the data

Data on labour migration and migrant workers are collected in a number of ways. The five main data sources used to measure the flows and stocks of migrant workers are:

  1. Population censuses; 

  2. Household surveys; 

  3. Labour force surveys; 

  4. Administrative sources; and 

  5. Statistical sources (ILO, 1994/5). 

Administrative sources used to measure migrant worker flows include the measurement of new entry or immigration visas, new permissions issued to work in a country, administrative entry registrations at the border and the apprehension of clandestine border crossers (ibid.). The measurement of migrant worker stocks includes accumulated entry or immigration visas, accumulated permission to work in the country, and estimated stocks of undocumented foreign citizens.  

Other measurements linked to labour migration include recruitment costs and remittances. Aiming to lower recruitment costs can be an indicator of well-governed labour migration, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Ratha, 2014). It is difficult to use remittances as an indicator for labour migration in countries that have a large UN and/or embassy presence or large transnational corporations because their employees’ incomes are recorded as remittances, causing a significant increase in remittance figures.

The ILO maintains an online database of labour statistics (ILOSTAT) as well as a collection of labour force surveys. The labour force surveys are standard household-based surveys of work-related statistics. 

ILOSTAT covers various subjects relating to labour, including labour migration. Indicators on labour migration are split into three subtopics: International migrant stock, nationals abroad, and international migrant flow

In addition, the ILO produced the third ILO global estimates on International Migrant Workers in 2021, which provides global estimates, estimates by country income group, and regional estimates of migrant workers. The reference year is 2019. Previously, ILO had published estimates in 2015 (reference year 2013) and 2018 (reference year 2017).

The UN Statistics Division collects, compiles and disseminates official demographic and social statistics on a number of topics, including employment. 

The Database on Immigrants in OECD and non-OECD Countries (DIOC) compiles data based on population censuses of OECD countries, and in collaboration with the World Bank has extended coverage to non-OECD countries. The database includes information on labour market outcomes, such as labour market status, occupations and sectors of activity. The datasets cover the years 2000-2001, 2005-2006, 2010-2011 and 2015-2016. 

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series - International (IPUMS-I) - collects and distributes census data from 85 countries. The database includes population questions that address the labour force as well as labour force surveys.

Europe

The Eurostat database provides comprehensive, harmonized labour force data from 28 European Union member states (1995 to 2023) and five other countries, with data from the United Kingdom up to and including 2018. It also contains data on residence permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, including remunerated activities reasons (occupation). One dataset (migr_resocc) disaggregates data by highly skilled workers, researchers, seasonal workers and others.

Africa

Under the Joint Labour Migration Programme (JLMP), the African Union released the third edition of the Labour Migration Statistics in Africa study in 2021 (reference year 2019), in collaboration with the ILO, IOM, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The study covers labour migration within Africa in 2019, using mainly population and housing censuses, specialised surveys on employment and/or migration, and routine administrative records.

Asia

The International Labour Migration Statistics Database (ILMS) in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region brings together official government data on international migrant workers’ stocks and flows within the region, as well as information on nationals living or working abroad. Available data available vary, but range from 1990 to 2022.

Pacific

International Labour Migration Statistics: A Guide for Policymakers and Statistics Organizations in the Pacific (2015), produced by ILO, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides some data on labour migration in the region. It also provides recommendations on improving international labour migration statistics and how to collect data through census, survey and administrative data sources.

Other

OECD’s International Migration database provides annual series on migration flows and stocks in OECD countries. It also provides labour market outcomes of immigrants from 2012 to 2022. 

Data on labour migration are scattered mainly because it is difficult to collect reliable data on migrant workers. According to the Global Migration Group’s Handbook for Improving the Production and Use of Migration Data for Development (2017), data collection faces the following gaps and challenges:

  • Lack of good quality data, including missing populations of interest, inconsistent periods of data collection, or key characteristics not being collected

  • Limited data comparability due to different concepts, definitions and measurement methods

  • Lack of infrastructure to process data in national institutions or at border crossing points

  • Insufficient expertise among staff collecting or analyzing data

  • Lack of infrastructure to publish key characteristics, populations or places of interest

  • Insufficient priority given to labour migration in national policy agendas and related budget allocation.

There is an ongoing effort to streamline international standards and common methodologies within the field of labour migration data collection. Currently, such standards and methodologies vary across countries, making data not comparable or combinable.

ILO’s Labour Migration Module provides a useful tool for gathering reliable data on different aspects of labour migration, including a series of migration-related questions that can be added to existing household and labour force surveys.


We heard about life in Guyana from some friends, and we decided to take the regular route to settle in a country that could offer better opportunities,” recalled Mercedes, who traveled for three days with Nathaly from Caracas to Guyana’s capital, Georgetown, with only USD 20 between them.

Like many Venezuelans who left their country in recent years, Nathaly and Mercedes set their sights on being their own bosses, deciding to combine their efforts to start a small business providing biomedical services to hospitals and private companies, and fixing electronic devices like smartphones, computers and electric bikes. Read more on IOM storyteller...



Further reading and related content

OECD

2024    

International Migration Outlook. Paris: OECD Publishing.

2022

'Regional economic development: The role of migration' (2022) in The contribution of migration to regional development. Paris: OECD Publishing.

African Union Commission and the Joint Labour Migration Programme Partners

2021

Report on Labour Migration Statistics in Africa: Third edition

2017

Report on Labour Migration Statistics in Africa: Second edition

IOM and African Union Commission

2024

Africa Migration Report (Second edition). Connecting the threads: Linking policy, practice and the welfare of the African migrant.

ILO, OECD, World Bank

2015

The Contribution of Labour Mobility to Economic Growth. September. Joint paper prepared for the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ Meeting. 

ILO

2021

ILO global estimates on migrant workers: Results and methodology. International Labour Office, Geneva: ILO. 

2018

ILO global estimates on migrant workers: Results and methodology. International Labour Office, Geneva: ILO. 

Kagan, S. and J. Campbell

2015

International Labour Migration Statistics: A Guide for Policymakers and Statistics, Organizations in the Pacific. EU/ESCAP/ILO/UNDP Project on Strengthening Capacity of Pacific Island Countries to Manage the Impact of Climate Change on Migration; ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries, Suva: ILO 2015.

Ozel, M. H., et al.

2017

Work. In: Handbook for Improving the Production and Use of Migration Data for Development (Global Migration Group (GMG)). Global Knowledge Partnership for Migration and Development (KNOMAD), World Bank, Washington, DC, p. 33-44.

Ozel, M. H., et al.

2017

Labour Markets. In: Handbook for Improving the Production and Use of Migration Data for Development (Global Migration Group (GMG)). Global Knowledge Partnership for Migration and Development (KNOMAD), World Bank, Washington, DC, p. 79-90.