More than 6 million people reportedly permanently migrated to developed countries in 2023.
Permanent migration to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, which includes mostly developed countries, hit a record high in 2023. The number of temporary migrants and asylum seekers also saw a significant increase.
The OECD’s latest report, “Migration Outlook”, released on Thursday, revealed that 6.5 million new permanent migrants arrived in its member states last year. This represents a 10% year-on-year increase and is 28% higher than the figures for 2019.
The report found that the majority of the increase in permanent migration in 2023 was driven by family migration, which rose by 18% year-on-year. Permanent labor migration to OECD countries also remained substantial, with almost 1.2 million workers migrating in 2023, similar to the number in 2022.
“Strong labor demand has been a key driver of migration over the past two years,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann stated. He explained that many OECD countries are facing widespread labor shortages and impending demographic changes, which means that the increasing number of labor migrants has contributed to sustained economic growth.
About one-third of OECD countries experienced record immigration levels in 2023, including Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK, according to the report. Another third recorded a decline in inflows, including Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, and New Zealand.
The UK experienced the largest surge in migration, becoming the top destination for migrants after the US for the first time, with a net immigration of 750,000 driven by recruitment in the care sector.
The report highlighted that the number of new asylum seekers to OECD countries reached an all-time high in 2023, with 2.7 million new applications registered across OECD countries, representing a 30% year-on-year rise.
In the US, the number of asylum applications in 2023 exceeded those in European OECD countries combined for the first time, reaching over a million.
The top origin countries for asylum applicants within the OECD in 2023 were Venezuela (270,000), Colombia (203,000), Syria (171,000), and Afghanistan (150,000). These were followed by Haiti, Cuba, Türkiye, and Nicaragua.