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International Migration Outlook 2014

Summary in English

Main trends

Permanent migration flows to the OECD have begun to rebound, according to preliminary data for 2013. Compared with 2012, they grew slightly by 1.1% to reach around 4 million new permanent immigrants. This modest increase is the consequence of conflicting evolutions in several major immigration countries. Migration to Germany recorded a double‑digit increase, its fourth consecutive annual rise. By contrast, several major immigration countries saw declines, notably the United States, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Net migration is still well below pre‑crisis levels, but it remains positive in most OECD countries. Notable exceptions are Mexico, Iceland, and Ireland.

The rebound in permanent migration is driven mainly by a rise in free‑movement migration, which rose by 10% in 2012. Across OECD countries, most of this free‑movement migration is accounted for by people moving between EU states. In 2012, and for the first time ever, such movements within Europe matched legal permanent migration from outside Europe. Germany was the most important destination, receiving almost a third of free‑movement migrants.

Overall, however, family migration continues to account for the bulk of migration flows in OECD countries, even though it has been declining since 2008. In 2012, it dropped by 1.7% on the previous year, mainly due to falls in Spain, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium. Labour migration has also declined continuously since the economic downturn, falling 12% in 2012. The fall was particularly notable in the European Economic Area, where labour migration decreased by almost 40% between 2007 and 2012. As a result, for the first time in 2012, legal permanent migration from third countries to Europe was slightly lower than legal permanent migration to the United States.

Unlike permanent migration, temporary migration flows remain below their peak of 2.5 million in 2007. In 2012, they stood at 1.9 million, about a quarter below the figure for 2007.

The conflict in Syria contributed to push asylum claims up by 20% in 2013 to 560 000 applications. Claims to Germany rose for the sixth year in a row, making it the world’s largest recipient with 110 000 claims. It was followed by the United States, France, Sweden and Turkey. As a proportion of its population, Sweden received the most asylum seekers and refugees.

International students continue to attract significant policy attention in many OECD countries. Worldwide, 4.5 million students were enrolled outside their country of citizenship in 2012, with 75% of them studying in OECD countries. That share is largely unchanged on recent years, although growth is slowing. In 2012, the number of international students in OECD countries rose by only 3%, well down on average annual growth rates of 8% in 2000‑05 and 6% in 2005‑11.

Investing in the labour market integration of immigrants

First‑ and second‑generation immigrants are playing a growing role in the workforce. In countries settled through immigration, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States, as well as in Western Europe, immigrants are well established. Elsewhere, in Southern Europe for example, they are a relatively recent but growing presence in the education system and the labour market.

The integration of immigrants and their families has been a prime policy objective in many OECD countries for at least the past 15 years. Perhaps the most important challenge is unleashing immigrants’ full skills potential. A number of policy approaches can help make this happen:

Make information on foreign qualifications more widely available and improve their recognition;

Ensure immigrants have access to active labour market programmes and that they benefit from them;

Put immigrants more directly in contact with employers;

Provide immigrants’ children with high‑quality early childhood education and care; and

Provide language training adapted to immigrants’ skills.

Developing smart labour migration management systems

Even though unemployment remains high in OECD countries, migration still has role to play in meeting labour market needs and in driving economic growth. While this role varies enormously across countries, there is a shared aspiration to create the conditions for “better” labour migration, especially against a backdrop of close public scrutiny.

Labour migration policy can be used to achieve different and sometimes competing goals. These may include satisfying short‑term labour needs and contributing to long‑term demographic and labour force development. There may also be wider economic development objectives in areas like investment and trade policy, innovation and productivity and development co‑operation. There are inherent trade‑offs in balancing these objectives, and policy actors in different areas should co‑ordinate to ensure coherent approaches.

A very wide range of tools can be used to ensure that labour migration meets its policy objectives. These can range from numerical limits on migration to “points‑based” selection of would‑be immigrants, and much more. Flexibility is important in applying these tools to ensure a dynamic and reactive management system. A range of policy approaches can help labour migration play a better role in meeting current and future skills needs:

Develop a clear labour migration framework;

Assemble a policy toolbox with a range of instruments for different objectives;

Improve management of admission criteria and adopt a dynamic approach to migration management; and

Modernise service infrastructure.

Key figures

Preliminary data suggests permanent migration flows to the OECD rose by about 1% in 2013 compared to 2012, but fell by 0.8% in 2012 compared to the previous year.

Labour migration has declined continuously since the economic downturn and fell by about 12% in 2012. By contrast, free‑movement migration rose 10%.

Asylum seeking increased by 20% in 2013 compared to 2012.

Worldwide, the number of students enrolled outside their country of citizenship more than doubled since 2000 to reach 4.5 million in 2012, with 75% enrolled in OECD countries.

With a little over half a million emigrants, China accounted for almost 10% of all flows in 2012, followed by Romania (5.6%) and Poland (5.4%).

There are more than 115 million immigrants in the OECD, about 10% of the total population.

In 2012, about 12.5% of all 15 year olds had two foreign‑born parents – 50% more than a decade earlier. Their integration, particularly those with parents with low levels of education, is a growing concern.

The crisis hit immigrants disproportionately hard: of the additional 15 million unemployed in the OECD since 2007, about 1 in 5 is foreign‑born.

Despite the crisis most immigrants are in work. On average, a higher proportion of low‑educated immigrants (54.1%) are in work than their native‑born peers (52.6%).

By contrast, tertiary educated immigrants are less likely to be in work than their native‑born counterparts (77% vs. 84%). And when employed, they are 50% more likely to be overqualified for their jobs.

Summary of
OECD (2014), International Migration Outlook 2014, OECD Publishing.
http://dx/doi.org/10.1787/migr_outlook-2014-en

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