New data has shown that permanent migration to richer countries hit a record high last year.
Some 6.5 million migrants upped stakes from less-well-off nations to relocate to wealthier nations in 2023, according to figures released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Around a third of the 38 OECD members experienced record-breaking arrival numbers last year, including Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK.
However, this influx of poorer immigrants was not evenly split among the planet’s more affluent nations, with another third seeing a drop, including Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, and New Zealand.
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said that “buoyant labor demand” has been the driving force behind this increase in movement from the world’s more deprived areas.
“Many OECD countries are facing widespread labor shortages and looming demographic changes and growing numbers of labor migrants have contributed to sustained economic growth,” he said.
“Increasing the accessibility and availability of labor migration channels contributes to addressing labor shortages and is essential to strengthening overall control of flows and managing irregular migration.”
Topping the table of countries listed in the figures was the UK, which saw 746,900 new permanent arrivals last year, up from 2022’s influx of 488,400.
This 52.9 percent year-on-year rise was by far the highest out of any member of the OECD, with only South Korea close in percentage terms with a 50.9 percent increase over 2022.
In terms of raw numbers, however, the nation’s respective inflows differed by orders of magnitude, with South Korea seeing just 87,100 last year, 659,800 fewer than the UK.
The UK has a population of 68.3 million, while South Korea has 51.7 million people.
The UK’s massive raw number of arrivals can be further illustrated by the fact it came second only to the United States, which accepted 1.2 million immigrants, despite having a population (334.9 million) five times larger than the UK.
Temporary Arrivals
Though the think tank put the number of people who permanently relocated at 6.5 million, that figure does not include illegal immigrants and temporary migrants.
The OECD typically defines “permanent-type” immigration as workers and their relatives, but not students or refugees, which it regards as temporary residents.
Discussing the temporary arrivals, the think tank said: “Not only have 6.5 million permanent migrants arrived in the last year, but the number of temporary migrants and asylum seekers has skyrocketed.
“These high flows have fuelled widespread concern about migrants’ impact on receiving countries’ economies and societies, putting migration management and border control at the top of political agendas and the center of voters’ interests in 2024 elections.”
All of this comes amidst a rising tide of anti-immigration feelings across the West, with voters flocking to support politicians and parties who have vowed to either cut, stop, or reverse the levels of illegal immigration.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States was in part predicated on his promise to control the illegal arrivals flooding across the southern border.
In Europe, immigration, both legal and illegal, has become a wedge issue, prompting many nations to introduce stricter controls and tougher policies and seeing anti-immigration parties make gains in elections across the continent.
Last month, a report from the University of Oxford’s Measuring Irregular Migration (MIrreM) project estimated that there are up to 3.2 million illegal immigrants living across 12 European countries.
This report also found that the UK was home to the most illegal immigrants of any country, with up to 745,000 illegal immigrants believed to be living in the country, accounting for one in 100 members of the population.
