Migration
In mid-2024, 304 million international migrants lived in the world, by the UN estimate: 3.7% of the world population.
In 1990 there were 154 million, so the number has grown by 98%.
A migrant stock counts the people who live outside their country of origin at one moment. It does not count how many people move in a year. Most countries count migrants by country of birth, some by citizenship, and refugees are included where the UN adds them.
153.9M
163.2M
174.6M
192.8M
221M
250M
275.3M
304M
| Year | Migrants | Share of the population |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 153,916,063 | 2.9% |
| 1995 | 163,176,002 | 2.8% |
| 2000 | 174,566,152 | 2.8% |
| 2005 | 192,788,721 | 2.9% |
| 2010 | 221,020,392 | 3.1% |
| 2015 | 250,042,020 | 3.3% |
| 2020 | 275,284,032 | 3.5% |
| 2024 | 304,021,813 | 3.7% |
| Country | Migrants | Share of the population |
|---|---|---|
 United States | 52,375,047 | 15.2% |
 Germany | 16,750,084 | 19.8% |
 Saudi Arabia | 13,683,841 | 40.3% |
 United Kingdom | 11,845,479 | 17.1% |
 France | 9,186,757 | 13.8% |
 Spain | 8,870,527 | 18.5% |
 Canada | 8,805,839 | 22.2% |
 United Arab Emirates | 8,157,000 | 74.0% |
 Australia | 8,111,404 | 30.4% |
 Russia | 7,605,774 | 5.3% |
| Country | People |
|---|---|
 India | 18,533,845 |
 China | 11,701,619 |
 Mexico | 11,596,529 |
 Ukraine | 9,769,216 |
| Russia | 9,134,094 |
 Syria | 8,927,523 |
 Bangladesh | 8,706,947 |
 Venezuela | 8,328,514 |
 Afghanistan | 7,528,994 |
 Philippines | 6,988,383 |
| From | To | People |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | United States | 11,279,561 |
| Afghanistan |  Iran | 3,752,317 |
| Syria |  Türkiye | 3,563,983 |
| Russia | Ukraine | 3,375,095 |
| India | United Arab Emirates | 3,248,545 |
| India | United States | 3,165,238 |
| Venezuela |  Colombia | 2,904,873 |
| Ukraine | Russia | 2,872,612 |
| China |  Hong Kong | 2,490,414 |
| China | United States | 2,488,775 |
Sources: International Migrant Stock 2024, UN DESA Population Division (CC BY 3.0 IGO). A migrant stock counts people living outside their country at mid-year, not journeys or yearly moves.
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Years up to 2023 are UN estimates. Later years are projections, the medium variant unless said otherwise. Methodology