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The OECD said on Monday that international migration to rich countries reached a record high last year due to the global humanitarian crisis and demand for workers.
The Paris-based organization estimates that 6.1 million new permanent migrants moved into its 38 member countries last year, 26% more than in 2021, with more cross-border movements due to the pandemic. This is a 14% increase from 2019, before the forced suspension.
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The OECD said provisional figures for 2023 suggest further increases, showing that last year's surge was not simply a post-COVID-19 rebound.
This total does not include an additional 4.7 million displaced Ukrainians who were living in OECD countries as of June this year. Increased temporary migration for work. Alternatively, a record 1.9 million permits were issued to international students, making it the highest number of new students going to the UK.
Both humanitarian and labor-related flows will remain at high levels, with the latter increasing as a proportion of total migration due to widespread labor shortages, the OECD said.
“Most OECD countries are facing labor shortages,” said Jose Luis Escriva, Spain's immigration minister, at the launch of the OECD report. “The situation could get even worse in the future.”
Given demographic trends, Escriva said the EU would need at least 50 million people to emigrate from abroad over the next 25 years simply to stabilize the population, adding that this would “simply increase national sustainability.” It added that large-scale migration would be “absolutely necessary”. welfare state”.
Humanitarian migration to Germany and the United States, the top two countries for asylum grants, nearly doubled in 2022, with Venezuela, Cuba, Afghanistan and Nicaragua receiving the most applications.
The movement of workers through potential routes to permanent residence has reached its highest level in 15 years in many countries, including doubling in the UK, the OECD said. It increased by 59% in Germany, 39% in the US and 26% in France. Meanwhile, inflows into New Zealand were three times higher than previous records due to a one-off policy that allowed migrants seeking labor to stay temporarily.
This offsets the slow recovery in worker movement within the EU and between Australia and New Zealand after the pandemic, with work-related movements now accounting for more than a fifth of cross-border movements. OECD said.
Immigrant employment rates have reached record highs, with more than 70% employed and less than 8% unemployed, exceeding employment rates for domestic workers in many countries.
Stefano Scarpetta, Director-General for Employment, Labor and Social Affairs at the OECD, said the rapid increase in the number of mostly female refugees from Ukraine meant that governments were working hard to help women, who already make up the majority of migrants across the OECD, enter the workforce. This highlights the need for further efforts. .
Scarpetta said Monday that women often arrive through family routes rather than as workers or refugees. This had “far-reaching implications, as family migration is often a blind spot in immigration and integration policies.”
Improving access to parental leave and support could be key to closing the 20 percentage point gap in employment rates between immigrant and native-born women, potentially adding an additional 5.8 million women to the workforce. he added.
