Labour migration

According to the ILO's most recent estimates, there were an estimated 169 million migrant workers globally in 2019 (ILO, 2021). Over two-thirds of all migrant workers were concentrated in high-income countries and approximately 60.6 per cent were located in three subregions: 24.2 per cent in Northern, Southern and Western Europe; 22.1 per cent in Northern America; and 14.3 per cent in the Arab States (ibid.). The importance of these top three subregions in terms of the number of international migrant workers they host has not diminished over time. According to previous estimates, the same three subregions hosted the biggest shares of all migrant workers: 60.2 per cent in 2013 and 60.8 per cent in 2017 (ibid.). The five OECD countries with the highest inflows of migrant workers in 2022 were United Kingdom (170,300), United States of America (145,700), Canada (135,800), Germany (89,900) and New Zealand (74,800) (OECD, 2023).

Between 2010 and 2019, the number of international migrant workers in Africa increased from 9.6 million to 14.5 million respectively. The average annual growth rate among migrant workers (4.8%) is higher than that of the overall African population (2.7%) (African Union, 2024; African Union Commission and JLMP partners, 2021). In 2019, international migrant workers accounted for 2.8 per cent of the total labour force in Africa. Regionally 82 per cent of the migrant workers in Africa in 2019 were in East Africa (4.1 million), West Africa (4.3 million) and Southern Africa (3.5 million), 10 per cent in Central Africa (1.5 million) and Northern Africa hosted 8 per cent (1.2 million) (GMDAC calculations based on African Union Commission and JLMP partners, 2021).

Gender

Among all migrant workers worldwide in 2019, 70 million or approximately 41.5 per cent were female (ibid.). Male migrant workers made up 99 million or 58.5 per cent of the total (ibid.). Women represent a smaller share of the total of international migrant workers because they also represent a lower share of the total international migrants (47.9%) and they have a relatively lower labour market participation rate compared to men (59.8% vs. 77.5%) (ibid.). However, some significant regional variations existed in the share of women among total migrant workers. In Northern, Southern and Western Europe, women represented more than 50.0 per cent of all migrant workers; in the Arab States, the share was below 20.0 per cent (ibid.). Women accounted for 39 per cent of migrant workers in Africa in 2019, slightly lower than the share of women in the total labour force (45%), but an increase from 27 per cent in 2010 (African Union, 2024; African Union, 2021). Women working in informal labour or unpaid domestic labour may not be represented in these statistics.

Age breakdown

Adults aged 25–64 constituted 86.5 per cent of all migrant workers (ILO, 2021). Approximately 10 per cent of all migrant workers in 2019 were between 15 and 24 years old (ibid.). The share of older workers (aged 65 and over) among migrant workers constituted 3.6 per cent (ibid.). In Africa, there were 6.7 million young international migrants (defined here as ages 15-35 years old), constituting 46 per cent of all international migrant workers that year, and 60 per cent of them were male (GMDAC calculation based on African Union Commission and JLMP Partners, 2021).

Sector

The services sector was the main employer of migrant workers, employing 66.2 per cent of all migrant workers and almost 80 per cent of total female migrant workers worldwide (ibid.). A growing demand for labour in the care economy (including in health and domestic work), where the labour force is predominantly female, could partially explain the high share of women migrant workers in the services sector (ibid.). As for the remaining migrant workers, 26.7 per cent were in industry and 7.1 per cent in agriculture (ibid.). In Africa in 2019, the top three sectors in which migrants were employed were in agriculture, forestry and fishing (27.5%) followed by wholesale and retail trade; transport and storage; accommodation and food service activities (21.9%) and public administration and defence, education, human health and social work activities (21%) (African Union, 2021).

Labour force participation rates

Significant regional variations existed in the share of women among total migrant workers in 2019: women represented more than 50 per cent of all migrant workers in Northern, Southern and Western Europe but the share was below 20 per cent in the Arab States (ILO, 2021). Though the labour force participation of migrant women was lower than that of migrant men, the labour force participation rate of migrant women was higher than that of non-migrant women in many countries.

Data sources & measurement

Data on labour migration and migrant workers are collected in a number of ways. The five main data sources used to measure the flows and stocks of migrant workers are:

1. Population censuses; 
2. Household surveys; 
3. Labour force surveys; 
4. Administrative sources; and 
5. Statistical sources (ILO, 1994/5). 

Administrative sources used to measure migrant worker flows include the measurement of new entry or immigration visas, new permissions issued to work in a country, administrative entry registrations at the border and the apprehension of clandestine border crossers (ibid.). The measurement of migrant worker stocks include accumulated entry or immigration visas, accumulated permission to work in the country, and estimated stocks of undocumented foreign citizens.  

Other measurements linked to labour migration include recruitment costs and remittances. Aiming to lower recruitment costs can be an indicator of well-governed labour migration, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Ratha, 2014). It is difficult to use remittances as an indicator for labour migration in countries that have a large UN and/or embassy presence or large transnational corporations because their employees’ incomes are recorded as remittances, causing a significant increase in remittance figures.

Data collection at the global level

The ILO maintains an online database of labour statistics (ILOSTAT) as well as a collection of labour force surveys. The labour force surveys are standard household-based surveys of work-related statistics. 

ILOSTAT covers various subjects relating to labour, including labour migration. Indicators on labour migration are split into three subtopics: International migrant stock, nationals abroad, and international migrant flow. 

In addition, the ILO produced the third ILO global estimates on International Migrant Workers in 2021, which provides global estimates, estimates by country income group, and regional estimates of migrant workers. The reference year is 2019. Previously, ILO had published estimates in 2015 (reference year 2013) and 2018 (reference year 2017).

The UN Statistics Division collects, compiles and disseminates official demographic and social statistics on a number of topics, including employment. 

The Database on Immigrants in OECD and non-OECD Countries (DIOC) compiles data based on population censuses of OECD countries, and in collaboration with the World Bank has extended coverage to non-OECD countries. The database includes information on labour market outcomes, such as labour market status, occupations and sectors of activity. The datasets cover the years 2000-2001, 2005-2006, 2010-2011 and 2015-2016. 

The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series - International (IPUMS-I) - collects and distributes census data from 85 countries. The database includes population questions that address the labour force as well as labour force surveys.

Data collection at the regional level

Europe

The Eurostat database provides comprehensive, harmonized labour force data from 28 European Union member states (1995 to 2023) and five other countries, with data from the United Kingdom up to and including 2018. It also contains data on residence permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, including remunerated activities reasons (occupation). One dataset (migr_resocc) disaggregates data by highly skilled workers, researchers, seasonal workers and others. 

Africa

Under the Joint Labour Migration Programme (JLMP), the African Union released the third edition of the Labour Migration Statistics in Africa study in 2021 (reference year 2019), in collaboration with the ILO, IOM, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The study covers labour migration within Africa in 2019, using mainly population and housing censuses, specialised surveys on employment and/or migration, and routine administrative records. 

Asia

The International Labour Migration Statistics Database (ILMS) in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region brings together official government data on international migrant workers’ stocks and flows within the region, as well as information on nationals living or working abroad. Available data available vary, but range from 1990 to 2022.

Pacific

International Labour Migration Statistics: A Guide for Policymakers and Statistics Organizations in the Pacific (2015), produced by ILO, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), provides some data on labour migration in the region. It also provides recommendations on improving international labour migration statistics and how to collect data through census, survey and administrative data sources. 

Other

OECD’s International Migration database provides annual series on migration flows and stocks in OECD countries. It also provides labour market outcomes of immigrants from 2012 to 2022. 

Data strengths & limitations

Data on labour migration are scattered mainly because it is difficult to collect reliable data on migrant workers. According to the Global Migration Group’s Handbook for Improving the Production and Use of Migration Data for Development (2017), data collection faces the following gaps and challenges:

• Lack of good quality data, including missing populations of interest, inconsistent periods of data collection, or key characteristics not being collected
• Limited data comparability due to different concepts, definitions and measurement methods
• Lack of infrastructure to process data in national institutions or at border crossing points
• Insufficient expertise among staff collecting or analyzing data
• Lack of infrastructure to publish key characteristics, populations or places of interest
• Insufficient priority given to labour migration in national policy agendas and related budget allocation.

There is an ongoing effort to streamline international standards and common methodologies within the field of labour migration data collection. Currently, such standards and methodologies vary across countries, making data not comparable or combinable.

ILO’s Labour Migration Module provides a useful tool for gathering reliable data on different aspects of labour migration, including a series of migration-related questions that can be added to existing household and labour force surveys.