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Migration data in Northern Africa

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The six countries in Northern Africa1
– Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia – have historically been and remain significant countries of migrant destination, transit and departure. Economic, environmental and political instability contribute to the mixed migration patterns observed in the sub-region. Labour migration policies from as early as the 1950s incentivized mobility and played a role in the socioeconomic development of several Northern African countries (World Bank, 2010). Recent migration policies in the sub-region have affected human mobility trends, as well as migration route decisions. 

At mid-year 2020, the sub-region hosted an estimated 3.2 million international migrants, nearly 61 per cent of whom were either from the same sub-region or other African sub-regions (UN DESA, 2020). An estimated 49 per cent of all international migrants in the region were refugees and asylum seekers. Globally, an estimated 12.3 million international migrants -- 4.4 per cent of the global migrant population -- were from Northern Africa. Of these emigrants, 48 per cent and 13 per cent were hosted in Europe and Western Asia respectively (ibid.).

  • 1As defined by the UN Statistics Division