The International Migrant Stock 2019-UN DESA report

Source: The Hindu

Manifest pedagogy:Demography across the world is changing rapidly due to natural growth rate and migration. Geo-political issues and developmental aspects have significant impact on migration pattern across the world. Understanding changing demography is crucial for sustainable development. IMS 2019 could be asked both at mains and prelims. From prelims perspective key findings would be crucial.

In news: IMS 2019 report has been released by the UN.

Placing it in syllabus: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

Static dimensions:

• What is International Migrant Stock?
• Utility of data of International Migrant Stock

Current dimensions:

• Key Findings of IMS 2019
• IMS 2019 and India

Content: India has emerged as the leading country of origin for immigrants across the world, with 17.5 million international migrants in 2019 coming from India, up from 15.9 million in 2015, according to The International Migrant Stock (IMS) 2019, released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 

(DESA)’s Population Division.

What is International Migrant Stock (IMS)?

• International migrant stocks are estimates of “the total number of international migrants present in a given country at a particular point in time“. 
• An international migrant is defined as “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence”. 
• IMS provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex and origin for all countries and areas of the world.
• The estimates are based on official national statistics on the foreign-born or the foreign population obtained from population censuses, population registers or nationally representative surveys.
• Data on migrant stocks are often reported together with data on migrant flows. 
• Although both terms account for the number of migrants, what they measure is different. 
• Migrant flows data account for the number of migrants entering or leaving during a specified time period.

Utility of IMS:

• Estimates of migrant stock are available for 232 UN countries/areas and comprise the most geographically comprehensive information on international migration. 
• The comparison of national statistics on international migration is difficult at a global level as countries use different concepts and definitions. The timing of census data also varies from country to country. UN DESA use interpolation and extrapolation methodologies to estimate stocks for countries where no recent censuses have been conducted. 
• For those countries with only one data point available since 1990, UN DESA use the increase in migrant stocks in the region, or area or country with a similar profile to estimate stocks in a certain year.
• These data are critical for understanding the important role of migrants and migration in the development of both countries of origin and destination.
• Facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people will contribute much to achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Key findings of IMS 2019:

1. In 2019, the number of international migrants worldwide has reached nearly 272 million, up from 221. The percentage of international migrants of the total global population has increased to 3.5% from 2.8% in 2000.
2. One-third of all international migrants originated from 10 countries — after India, Mexico ranked second as the country of origin for 12 million migrants, followed by China (11 million), Russia (10 million) and Syria (8 million).
3. The European region hosted the highest number of immigrants at 82 million in 2019, followed by North America (59 million) and Northern Africa and Western Asia (49 million). 
4. Most of the world’s migrants live in a relatively small number of countries. In 2019, two thirds of all international migrants were living in just 20 countries. The U.S. hosts the highest number of international migrants (51 million), about 19% of the global population.
5. Forced displacements across international borders have continued to rise. The global number of refugees and asylum seekers increased by about 13 million between 2010 and 2017.
6. Most international migrants move between countries located within the same region. The majority of international migrants in sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Central and Southern Asia originated from another country in the same region where they resided.
7. Women comprised slightly less than half of all international migrants. The share of women in the total number of international migrants fell from 49.3 percent in 2000 to 47.9 percent in 2019.
8. One out of every seven international migrants are below the age of 20 years. In 2019, 38 million international migrants, equivalent to 14 percent of global migrant population, were under 20 years of age. Sub-Saharan Africa hosted the highest proportion of young persons among all international migrants (27 per cent).
9. Three out of every four international migrants are of working age (20-64 years). In 2019, 202 million international migrants, equivalent to 74 per cent of the global migrant population, were between the ages of 20 and 64.

IMS 2019 and India:

• The count of the Indian diaspora has increased 10% from 15.9 million in 2015, making it the largest in the world.
• The number of migrants living in India saw a slight decline from 5.24 million in 2015 to an estimated 5.15 million in 2019 – both 0.4% of the total population of the country.
• India now comprises 6.4% of the total global migrant population.
• Bangladesh was a top source of migrants to India, followed by Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China. 
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the top destination of Indian migrants followed by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Oman.
• In 1990, India was behind Russia and Afghanistan as a source of international migrants. In 2019, Russia fell to the fourth position behind Indian, Mexico and China.