The International Migration Outlook 2017, the 41st edition of this annual OECD publication, analyses recent developments in migration movements and policies in OECD countries and selected non-member countries. Where relevant, it examines the impact of the recent increase in humanitarian migration. It looks at the evolution of the labour market outcomes of immigrants in OECD countries, with a focus on the medium-term dynamic of employment outcomes and on the implications of structural changes in the labour market. It includes one special chapter on family migrants, looking at this important part of migration and the policies that govern it. A statistical annex completes the book.
Immigration to Mexico increased sharply over the past two decades. The inter-censal survey conducted in 2015 indicated that the stock of foreign-born population reached the unprecedented level of one million, twice that of 2000, but still less than 1% of the total population. Despite growing inflows, Mexico remains mainly an emigration and transit country.
The increase in migration inflow to the Netherlands (from 183 000 in 2014 to 205 000 in 2015) considerably exceeded the increase in outflow (from 148 000 in 2014 to almost 150 000 in 2015), so that net immigration continued to rise and reached 55 000 in 2015. Of those moving to the Netherlands in 2015, 45 000 were Dutch citizens and 160 000 foreigners. Just over half of all foreigners (81 000) were citizens of an EU member state.
Net migration inflow to the Russian Federation was 262 000 in 2016, a 7% increase compared to the previous year (245 000). The inflow of permanent immigrants amounted to 575 000 (598 000 in 2015). The main countries of origin were Ukraine (178 000), Kazakhstan (69 000), Uzbekistan (61 000), Tajikistan (53 000), and Armenia (44 000). Emigration from the Russian Federation decreased significantly to 313 000, compared to 353 000 in 2015. This is still more than in 2014 (308 000) and is mainly driven by temporary migrants departing after being unable to renew work permits due to unfavourable economic conditions. The main destination countries were Ukraine (59 000), Uzbekistan (41 000), Armenia (32 000), and Kazakhstan (32 000).
Net migration has increased strongly in recent years, from 180 000 in 2010 to 680 000 in 2014. In 2015, however, net migration almost doubled, reaching almost 1.2 million. This is largely due to the high increase of people seeking asylum in Germany. Humanitarian migration decreased considerably in 2016. Between January and September 2016, the largest EU origin countries were Romania (134 000), Poland (99 000) and Bulgaria (51 000). Almost 80% of all EU migrants coming to Germany in this period came from EU countries where mobility restrictions were lifted in 2011 or later. Around 51 000 Croatian citizens, for whom mobility restrictions were fully lifted in July 2015, entered the country in 2015, compared to 37 000 in 2014 and 40 000 between January and September 2016.
The Lithuanian population has continued to fall, from 3 million at the 2011 census to an estimated 2.85 million at the beginning of 2017. The number of foreign nationals residing in Lithuania increased by 0.8% over 2016 to 44 600 at the beginning of 2017, equivalent to 1.6% of the total population. Non-EEA citizens accounted for 86% of foreign residents. Of these, almost half held long-term residence permits.
In 2015, as in previous years, registered net migration was negative (-4 200 persons). The difference between net migration of Bulgarians (-13 700) and of foreigners (+9 500) widened in 2015, contributing to a further decrease of the population. Registered changes in permanent residence may underestimate migration flows.
Net migration in Finland fell by over 22% between 2014 and 2015 to 12 400 persons, but still accounted for the vast majority of the population growth in 2015. The fall in net migration was largely driven by fewer immigrants arriving in Finland, 28 700, down from the 2014 peak of 31 500. Further, rising emigration saw over 16 000 individuals leaving Finland in 2015. In 2016 net immigration amounted to 12 400 persons, which was the smallest number in nine years. Finland received a migration gain of 14 700 persons from immigration of foreign citizens.
In 2015, overall net migration remained negative (10 500 persons) although slightly less than in recent years (-30 100 persons in 2014 and -37 400 persons in 2012). Overall, the total stock of foreigners in Portugal continued to decrease, from 454 000 persons in 2009 to 389 000 in 2015 (and down 1.6% from 2014). Lusophone country nationals accounted for a large but decreasing share of foreigners (43.5% in 2015), while the reverse is true for United Kingdom, Spanish and Chinese nationals.
In 2015, the number of migrants admitted into Korea for a permanent stay reached 80 700 (+7% compared to 2014). Of those permanent migrants for which the reason of entry can be classified (46%), family migrants represented the highest percentage (37%) with labour migrants only 2%. The number of temporary migrants admitted fell from 206 000 in 2014 to 180 000 in 2015. Among them, 138 000 were temporary workers and 23 000 were international students. The number of returning Korean nationals (12%) continued to increase during 2015, but at a smaller pace than in 2014.
Between 2015 and 2016 the population of foreign citizens rose by 6.4% to 5.95 million, accounting for 9.2% of the national total. Overall, EU/EFTA countries accounted for all the growth in the foreign national population in the year 2014-15. Non-EU/EFTA country numbers fell by 26 000 to 2.29 million.
A total of 593 900 non-Irish nationals resided in Ireland in April 2016. This exceeds the previous peak recorded prior to the Great Recession in 2008. As a share of the overall population, the current non-national share (12.7%) is nearly equal to the 2008 peak (12.8%). The largest group of non-national immigrants is from New EU Member States at 238 700 in 2016, similar to earlier years. There was a sharp decline of the number of immigrants from older European Union member countries, from 52 000 in 2010 to 32 000 in 2016 (40% decline). Meanwhile, the number of nationals from non-EU countries has continued to increase (4%) to 207 000 in 2016.
Permanent migration increased by 2% in the 2015-16 Immigration programme to 209 500 visas, mainly driven by an increase of 28% in the Humanitarian Programme intake. This comprised 189 800 places under the Migration Programme (including 3 500 Child visas), 0.4% above its 2014-15 level, 17 600 under the Humanitarian Programme and 2 200 visas granted to New Zealand citizens.
In 2015, a total of 198 700 foreign nationals registered a main residence in Austria for at least 90 consecutive days, an increase of 44 400 (29%) compared to 2014. Meanwhile 80 100 foreign nationals left the country, an increase of 5% over 2014. Net immigration was again positive and amounted to 118 500 foreign nationals, a 53% increase compared to the previous year. Factoring in the net outflow of 5 500 Austrian nationals in 2015 reduces total net immigration to 113 100. By January 2017, the stock of foreign nationals amounted to 1.3 million (15% of the total population), constituting an increase of 75 000 persons compared to January 2016, and up from 1.1 million in January 2015. The largest groups were German (181 700), Serbian (118 700) and Turkish nationals (116 900).