In terms of permanent immigrant flows from the EU and non-EU countries to Germany, the drop in flows was larger: 26 percent. One possible reason the immigrant flows from the EU dropped less than flows from non-EU/other countries is that the pandemic generally shifted the composition of migration in the OECD away from family and humanitarian migration to a higher share of free mobility.
The only OECD country that registered an increase in permanent migration flows in 2020 was Mexico. More than 54,000 new permanent migrants were counted, one of the highest figures on record. Behind the rise is an increase in humanitarian admissions.
