Human migration outpacing world population growth: UN report
Updated 18:48, 18-Sep-2019
Xuyen Nguyen

Humans are increasingly mobile, with the rate of international migration outpacing that of world population growth, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.

There are now more than 272 million international migrants – defined as someone who’s changed their “country of usual residence” – making up 3.5 percent of the global population. The average annual growth rate in number international migrants is 2.6 percent, more than double the global population growth rate of 1.1 percent, measured by the World Bank.

The broad definition includes both people who move voluntarily, such as international students, and those forced to flee such as refugees and asylum seekers. Estimates are based on national statistics gathered from censuses and reflect anyone who’s crossed an international border.

Nearly 25 percent of human movement is due to forced displacement. More than 70 million people were forcibly displaced in 2018, a record high, said the UN’s refugee agency in June.

In absolute numbers, Europe is home to the largest number of international migrants at 82 million. The country with the most international migrants is the United States with 51 million.

While migration is happening all over the world, two-thirds of all international migrants live in just 20 countries, with the U.S., Germany and Saudi Arabia topping the list.

China was among the leading countries of origin, with 10.7 million people living abroad. Some of the leading host countries for Chinese nationals were the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Regionally, the number international migrants in Japan jumped almost 12 percent from 2015. The increase can be explained by the country’s new visa program to alleviate its national labor shortage.

While the rate of migration has grown, global population rates are slowing down, according to the UN. A growing number of countries are seeing smaller populations, caused by sustained low levels of fertility. Though there’s wide variation between regions, global fertility rate is projected to decline to 2.2 in 2050, just above the 2.1 births per woman level to ensure that a population can sustain itself in the absence of immigration.