Explainer: Who Is an Immigrant?" Migration Policy Institute, February 2019
Who Is An Immigrant? EXPLAINER
By Jessica Bolter
As international migration has moved to center stage in political, policy, and public discussions in coun- tries around the world, it is important to have a sense of who exactly these conversations are about. Simply put, an immigrant is a person living in a country other than that of his or her birth. No matter if that person has taken the citizenship of the destination country, served in its military, married a native, or has another status—he or she will forever be an interna- tional migrant. Did You Know? About 3.4 percent of the global population—258 million of the world’s 7.7 billion people—are international migrants, “Immigrant” is not a term used universally a share that has increased slightly over the past couple de- to refer to those living in a country other than their birth country. Other often- from less-developed countries, and slightly more migrants used terms include “migrant,” the “foreign cadesmove between(see figure). poor Almost countries three-quarters than from a of low-income immigrants are born,” and “international migrant.” country to a wealthy one.
InternationalInternational Migrant Population, Migrant Population, by Number by and Number Share, and 2000-17 Share, 2000-17
300 4
3.5 250 3 200 2.5
150 2
1.5 100 1 50 0.5
0 0 2000 2005 2010 2013 2015 2017 International migrant population (in millions) Share of world population (%)
Source: United Nations Population Division, “International Migrant Stock: The 2017 Revision—Number of International Migrants,” ac- cessed September 19, 2018, available online.
Just under half of international migrants are women, a proportion that’s stayed largely steady over the past couple decades. When broken down by region, however, the share of female immigrants has been increasing everywhere except Asia.
“Immigrant” is not a term used universally: though common in North America to refer to those living in the “foreign born,” and “migrant.” National statistical agencies base their counts of migrant populations aon country the number other of than people their who birth say country, they were other born terms in another frequently country used and/orinclude who “international hold the citizenship migrant,” of another country. EXPLAINER
2 Who Is an Immigrant EXPLAINER
In casual usage, “immigrant” can refer to any foreign-born person, but in the United States, some are technically considered “nonimmigrants.” While immigrants intend to stay in a new country perma- nently, nonimmigrants remain only temporarily, whether that’s for a few days on a business trip, a few months as a seasonal worker, or a few years as a student. Those considered immigrants also include a range of people with different legal statuses. These statuses are not identical, but are often comparable, across different receiving countries.
To be an immigrant can thus comprise a variety of experiences, some more legally privileged than
Native-born children with at least one migrant parent make up the second generation. A later-added others. Generally, though, immigrants may be described as the “first generation” in their new country. - term seeks to address the space in between the first and second generations: the 1.5 generation. Mem bers of the 1.5 generation migrated, likely with their parents, as children or teens.
While it is difficult to estimate the size of the migrant-background population of every country (in otherdifferently, words, it isthe possible first and to subsequent compare the generations international that migrant identify population, as being of as a particularreported by origin; the United also knownNations. as The the United “diaspora”) States since has, bynational far, the governments biggest migrant can populationhave different in thedefinitions world—about and collect four timesdata that of Saudi Arabia and Germany, the two countries with the next largest numbers of immigrants (see
Topfigure).Top 15 15 ReceivingOverall,Receiving more CountriesCountries than 60by by Internationalpercent International of international Migrant Migrant Population Population migrants & Share live & Share ofin TotalEurope of Population, Total or Asia. Population, 2017 2017
C N R SSI NITE R INE IN M ERM N
NITE R R NCE EMIR TES T R E IT L
NITE ST TES SP IN IN I
S I R I S T STR LI RIC
International Share of Total Country Migrant Population Population (%) United States 9,777,000 1 .3 Saudi rabia 12,18 ,000 37.0 ermany 12,1 ,000 1 .8 International Migrant population Russian ederation 11, 2,000 8.1 United ingdom 8,8 2,000 13. United rab mirates 8,313,000 88. rance 7,903,000 12.2 anada 7,8 1,000 21. ustralia 7,03 ,000 28.8 Share of Total Population Spain ,9 7,000 12.8 ) Italy ,907,000 10.0 India ,189,000 0. Ukraine ,9 ,000 11.2 Turkey ,882,000 .0 or visual representation purposes, the foreign-born share of the total population is included in the size of the immigrant population bubble, but is not a subset. South frica ,037,000 7.1
Notes: The size and share of the migrant population in United Nations data may differ from what national statistical agencies report due to different definitions. (For example, the U.S. Census Bureau recorded the foreign-born share of the total U.S. population at nearly 14 percent in 2017 because the agency excludes people with U.S. citizenship at birth. The United Nations, which uses country of birth, counts Puerto Ricans as foreign born, while the Census Bureau excludes them because Puerto Ricans have U.S. citizenship at birth.) Source: Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Data Hub, “Top 25 Destinations of International Migrants,” accessed September 18, 2018, available online. Migration Policy Institute 3 EXPLAINER
The United States is far from having the largest share of migrants in its overall population, though. The United in the lead the United Nations estimates the foreign-born share of Arab Emirates is , with migrants making up 88 percent of all residents in 2017. Kuwait and Qatar are next in line, with 75 percent and 65 percent. By contrast, CountriestheCountries U.S. population with with Largest Largest at nearly Share Share 15 of percent.of Immigrants Immigrants in in Total Total Population, Population, (%), (%), 2017 2017 United Arab Emirates 88.4 Kuwait 75.5 Qatar 65.2 Liechtenstein 65.1 Monaco 54.9 Andorra 53.3 Bahrain 48.4 Singapore 46 Luxembourg 45.3 Oman 44.7 Saudi Arabia 37 Jordan 33.3 Nauru 32.7 Lebanon 31.9 Switzerland 29.6
Note: This list comprises only countries, not overseas departments, territories, special administrative regions, or ecclesiastical jurisdictions such as the Holy See, which in some cases have larger foreign-born shares than are listed for countries. Source: United Nations Population Division, “International Migrant Stock: The 2017 Revision, by Destination and Origin,” Table 3, accessed Sep- tember 19, 2018.
What are the top origins for international migrants? Asia is the source for the largest numbers of people liv- ing outside their region of birth (42 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (32 million). The 20 largest countries of origin account for 49 percent of all international migrants, led by India, Mexico, the Russian - Federation,lations. and China (see figure). For some of these countries, though (for example the Russian Federation and Ukraine), changing borders, not actual movements of people, resulted in the creation of significant migrant popu While India has the largest number of emigrants, these migrants represent just a tiny share of the country’s
Among top migrant-origin countries, Syria has the largest share of nationals residing outside its borders—the overall population. The number two country, Mexico, by contrast has nearly 1 in 10 of its nationals living abroad. history. result of a brutal civil war that began in 2011, leading to one of the world’s largest and fastest exoduses in recent
Asia is the source for the largest numbers of people living outside their region of birth, followed by atin America and the aribbean.
“4 Who Is an Immigrant ” EXPLAINER
TopTop 15 15 Sending Sending Countries Countries by by Number Number of of Emigrants Emigrants & &Share Share of ofTotal Total Population, Population, 2017 2017
R SSI NITE IN M P L N R NE ERM N
ST N C IN
NIST N
S RI ME IC P IST N N L ES IN I P ILIPPINES
IN NESI
Number of Emigrant Share of Country Emigrants Total Population (%) India 1 , 87,720 1.2 Me ico 12,9 ,882 9.1 Size of migrant Russian ederation 10, 3 ,99 .9 Population hina 9,9 2,0 8 0.7 angladesh 7, 99,919 . Syrian rab Republic ,8 , 27.3 Pakistan ,978, 3 2.9 Ukraine ,9 1, 3 11.7 Philippines , 80, 82 .1 migrant Share of Total Population ) United ingdom ,921,309 .9 fghanistan ,82 , 12.0 Poland ,701, 11.0 Indonesia ,233,973 1. ermany ,208,083 .8 or visual representation purposes, the emigrant share of the total population is included in the number azakhstan ,07 , 18. of emigrants bubble, but is not a subset. Source: United Nations Population Division, “International Migrant Stock: The 2017 Revision, by Destination and Origin,” Table 1, accessed February 11, 2019.
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Suggested citation: Bolter, Jessica. "Explainer: Who Is An Immigrant?" Migration Policy Institute, February 2019. www.migrationpolicy.org/content/explainer-who-immigrant.
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