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Data sources and definitions

Immigrant and emigrant stocks

Where do we source data on immigrant and emigrant stocks from?

Data on immigrant and emigrant stocks is sourced from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

What is the difference between an immigrant and an emigrant?

Migrants have both an origin and a destination, meaning that international migrants can be viewed from two directions:

Emigrant: someone leaving their country of birth (origin)
Immigrant: someone moving to a country that they were not born in (destination)

How does the UN define a migrant?

Based on the data source – the United Nations Population Division – an international migrant is someone who has been living for one year or longer in a country other than the one in which he or she was born.

This means that many foreign workers and international students are counted as migrants. Additionally, the UN considers refugees and, in some cases, their descendants (such as Palestinians born in refugee camps outside of the Palestinian territories) to be international migrants.

Estimates of the number of unauthorized immigrants living in various countries are also included in the total counts.

Tourists, foreign-aid workers, temporary workers employed abroad for less than a year and overseas military personnel typically are not counted as migrants.

Where does the UN sources its estimates from?

The UN provides estimates of global migration using a combination of population census; demographic data; and, where data is not available, modeled estimates.

For the majority of countries, the UN defines immigrants or emigrants on the basis of country of birth. This means an immigrant is defined as someone who was born in a country that is different from their current country of residence. This is the case, even if they acquire citizenship in the country that they have moved to.

However, the UN also notes that for some countries data on the place of birth is not available. In these cases, the country of citizenship is used as the basis of migrant status.

Does the UN measure migrant stocks or flows?

Data on migration from the UN measures the stock of migrants in a given country, which is the total number at any given time. This does not measure the flow of migrants.

We also present data on international migration flows here.

Net migration

Where do we source data on net migration from?

Data on net migration is sourced from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) Population Prospects.

What is net migration?

Net migration is the total number of immigrants (people moving into a given country) minus the number of emigrants (people moving out of the country).

This is expressed as the annual net number of migrants.

What is net migration rate?

Net migration rate is the number of immigrants (people moving into a given country) minus the number of emigrants (people moving out of the country) in the previous five years, divided by the person-years lived by the population of the receiving country over that period.

It is expressed as the average annual net number of migrants per 1,000 population.

Asylum seekers

Where do we source data on asylum seekers from?

Data on asylum seekers is sourced from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

How does the UNHCR define asylum seekers?

“Asylum” is a term that is not defined in international law, but has become a universally-recognized term for the protection provided by a country to refugees and other persons in need of international protection on its territory.

The need for international protection arises when a person is outside their home country and unable to return home because they would be at risk there, and their country is unable or unwilling to protect them.

Risks that give rise to a need for international protection classically include those of persecution, threats to life, freedom or physical integrity arising from armed conflict, serious public disorder, or different situations of violence.

Other risks may stem from: famine linked to situations of armed conflict; or disasters; as well as being stateless.

“Asylum seeker” is therefore an individual that has an application for asylum pending at any stage in the approval process in a country that is different from their home country.

Refugees

Where do we source data on refugees from?

Data on refugees is sourced from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

What definition does the UNHCR use for refugees

Refugees are, by definition: in need of international protection, being outside their country of origin because of serious threats against which the authorities of their home country cannot or will not protect them.

In addition, individuals who are outside their country of origin (typically because they have been forcibly displaced across international borders) but who may not qualify as refugees under international or regional law, may in certain circumstances also require international protection, on a temporary or longer-term basis.

Who are resettled refugees?

Resettlement is the change in status of a refugee when they go from an asylum country/state to another territory that has agreed to admit them and ultimately grant them permanent residence.

Who are returned refugees?

Returned refugees are former refugees who have returned to their countries of origin. Such returns would ideally only take place if the refugees can be safe and dignified during and after the return. In UNHCR's statistics, only refugees who returned during the calendar year are included, although operations may assist returnees for longer periods.

Internal displacement

Where do we source data on internal displacment from?

Data on internal displacement is sourced from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

How does the IDMC define internal displacement?

Internal displacement refers to the forced movement of people within the country they live in. IDMC adopts the definition of an internally displaced person (IDP) categorized in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement:

“Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.”

IDMCC focuses on three criteria to define a displacement event:

Forced nature of displacement: someoone that is internally displaced is differentiated from a migrant on the basis of their displacement being forced.
Displacement from their habitual residence: forced displacement is not always associated with a fixed place of residence. For example, for nomadic pastoralists, displacement may be the result of the loss of traditional grazing areas, the death of livestock, or a both. Given that the concept of habitual residence is intimately linked to peoples’ livelihoods, some people who have lost their livelihoods can be considered as internally displaced. An example of this is pastoralists who have become displaced due to the impacts of drought and conflict.
Must be displaced within their country of origin or habitual residence – Internally displaced persons are only classified as such while they remain within national borders. Once they cross a border, they are then classified as an international migrant, or refugee.

What metrics does the IDMC use to define internal displacement?

The IDMC uses several metrics to measure internal displacement. In our Migration Data Explorer we present two: new displacements, and the total stock of displacements.

New displacements: this is the number of new displacements that occur within a given period of time (in the case of the data we present, one year). It is a flow measure since it records the number of new events. This indicator measures events rather than individuals. The same person could be displaced several times, and each time counts as a new displacement.

Total cumulative displacements: this is the number of displacements that are still ongoing at a given time. It is a cumulative stock measure. It is calculated as the sum of new displacements over time minus returns flows of internal displacements. When someone returns to their home, crosses the border into another territory, dies, or settles elsewhere, then they are subtracted from this cumulative stock.

Who are returned internally displaced persons?

These are formerly internally displaced persons, who willfully returned to their areas of origin or habitual residence. In UNHCR's statistics, only IDPs who returned during the calendar year are included, although operations may assist returnees for longer periods.

Stateless persons

Where do we source data on stateless persons from?

Data on stateless persons is sourced from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

How does the UNHCR define stateless persons?

Stateless persons are defined under the UNHCR’s 1954 Convention ‘relating to the Status of Stateless Persons’ as: “A person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”.

In practice, this means the nationality laws of States with which the individual has relevant links, how these apply in practice and any review/ appeal decisions that may be relevant to the individual. This encompasses legislation, but also ministerial decrees, regulations, orders, case law, and, where appropriate, customary practice.

Child migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons

Where do we source data on child migrants from?

Data on child migrants under 18 years old is sourced from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) via UNICEF.

Where do we source data on child refugees from?

Data on child refugees is sourced from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) via UNICEF.

Where do we source data on internally displaced children and internal displacement of children from?

Data on internal displacement of children is sourced from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) via UNICEF.

How does UNICEF define a child migrant/ child refugee/ internally displaced child?

A child is defined as a person under 18 years old. The overall criteria for international migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons apply in the same way as they do to adults.

Remittances

Where do we source data on remittances from?

Data on remittances is sourced from the World Bank based on underlying data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank and OECD.

What are remittances?

The source defines remittances as:

“Personal remittances comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfers consist of all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from nonresident households. Personal transfers thus include all current transfers between resident and nonresident individuals. Compensation of employees refers to the income of border, seasonal, and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident and of residents employed by nonresident entities.“

What are remittance costs?

Remittance costs are explained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as:

“The costs of a remittance transaction include a fee charged by the sending agent, typically paid by the sender, and a currency-conversion fee for delivery of local currency to the beneficiary in another country.

Some smaller operators charge the beneficiary a fee to collect remittances, presumably to account for unexpected exchange-rate movements.

And remittance agents (especially banks) may earn an indirect fee in the form of interest (or “float”) by investing funds before delivering them to the beneficiary. The float can be significant in countries where overnight interest rates are high.“

Population adjustments

For a range of metrics we calculate our own population-adjusted values.

To do so we divide the original metric (for example, number of emigrants) by a country’s total population.

The population data used in this calculation is our Our World in Data population series which relies on the UN World Population Prospects for the years covered in this migration dataset. We describe how this population dataset is constructed here.