V. Where do migrants come from?

The desire and ability to migrate are shaped by the context of people’s lives, by the resources available to them and by the barriers that they face. Spatial patterns of international migrant origins reflect these underlying asymmetries, which in turn are an expression of differences in levels of development within and among countries, among other factors. Most international migrants today come from middle-income countries and not from the world’s poorest countries. Among major regions, Europe still has the largest diaspora. In recent decades, however, the gap between Europe and other regions as a place of origin has narrowed, with numbers of persons living abroad rising more rapidly for some other regions than for Europe. For Latin America and the Caribbean, Northern Africa and Western Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, much of the recent increase in the size of their diaspora has been due to forced migration. Over the past decades, the number of countries from which migrants originate has grown. However, 41 per cent of all international migrants worldwide still hail from just 15 countries.

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Good Health and Well-Being

Quality Education