Mercy Benzaquen

Today, it is easier and faster to move around the world, with the number of immigrants quickly increasing from 173 million in 2000 to almost 250 million in 2015. Migration can be beneficial to both home and host countries. Many immigrants send money back home in remmitences, contributing to community funds. And according to The United Nations, under appropriate policies, migrants can help "fill critical labour shortages, create jobs as entrepreneurs, and contribute in terms of taxes and social security contributions" in their new homes. Cultural diversity can also result in advances in science, medicine, and technology.

The benefits of migration are often overlooked, and immigrants face hurdles as members of their new societies, often working for longer hours and less pay, enduring discrimination, and even human rights violations. But for some, immigration is the only escape from poverty, conflict, inequality, and harsher realities at home.

Most immigrants move to high-income countries, with the U.S hosting about 19% of the world's total migrant population, 47 million people. Germany and Russia host around 12 million each, followed by Saudi Arabia with 10 million.

Hover over the circles for the exact number of emigrants from each country.
*Labels for countries with more than 1,000,000 emigrants to the U.S

Immigrants tend to move to countries located in the same continent as their country of origin. Most immigrants from Africa (52%), Asia (60%), Europe (66%), Oceania (59%) stay in their same continent. In the west is a different story, the majority of immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean (84%) and Northern America (73%) move to countries in other continents.

Almost half of the world's immigrants come from Asia. India has the largest diaspora, followed by Mexico, Russia, China and Bangladesh.

Hover over the squares to get the details on emigration from each country.
*Countries shown have more than 2,000,000 emigrants

Immigration is Human