Migration to OECD countries is at unprecedented levels. A new report from OECD shows that more than 6 million new permanent immigrants (not including Ukrainian refugees), immigrated to OECD countries, reaching a record level in 2022.
This was driven by increases in humanitarian and managed labor migration, along with accompanying family members. More than one in three OECD countries registered their highest levels in at least 15 years, with several countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, reporting the highest figures on record. Temporary labor migration, especially of the seasonal kind, also registered a strong increase. The number of admissions of international students neared 2 million for the first time.
On top of these figures come the inflows of refugees from Ukraine. As of June 2023, there were around 4.7 million displaced Ukrainians in OECD countries. Germany, Poland and the United States host the highest number of refugees from Ukraine in absolute terms, while Estonia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania have received the highest number as a share of the population.
Asylum applications in the OECD were also at a record high in 2022. Over 2 million new applications were lodged in OECD countries in 2022, the highest number recorded so far, well above the 2015/16 previous record of 1.7 million and twice the 2021 level. The increase was largely driven by soaring applications in the United States, at 730 000 compared with less than 190 000 in 2021.
In the meantime, acquisitions of citizenship in OECD countries also reached a new high in 2022, at 2.8 million, according to preliminary data.
Labor market outcomes of immigrants are at the highest levels since the beginning of the millennium.
Between 2021 and 2022, the employment rate of migrants improved in all OECD countries except Poland – which had high inflows of refugees from Ukraine – and reached the highest level on record, OECD-wide. There was a particularly strong improvement in the labor market outcomes of migrant women, diminishing the gender gap in several countries.
However, immigrant mothers face specific challenges.
On average, differences in the employment rates among women between mothers and non-mothers are twice as high for migrants as for the native-born. Individual and cultural preferences are often cited as main obstacles to their labor market integration, but the evidence suggests that migrant women do not choose inactivity voluntarily. Migrant mothers also report higher levels of underemployment and involuntary part-time employment.
Key findings from the OECD Report
• Permanent-type migration to OECD countries increased by 26% in 2022 compared with 2021. Preliminary figures for 2023 suggest a further increase.
• Family migration remained the primary category of entry for new permanent-type migrants, representing 40% of all permanent-type migration, while managed labor migration and free mobility both accounted for 21% each.
• The top origin countries for asylum applicants within the OECD in 2022 were Venezuela (221 000), Cuba (180 000), Afghanistan (170 000) and Nicaragua (165 000).
• In more than half of OECD countries, the employment rate of migrants is at the highest in more than two decades.
• Immigrant mothers face a disproportionate disadvantage, both compared with immigrant women without children and vis-à-vis their native-born peers. On average across the OECD, the gap in employment rates between immigrant and native-born mothers is 20 percentage points.
Source: OECD