The World Migration Report series

The first World Migration Report was published 24 years ago, initially as a one-off report designed to increase the understanding of migration by policymakers and the general public. It was conceived at a time when the effects of globalization were being felt in many parts of the world and in a multitude of ways. Indeed, the first report states that part of its genesis was due to the effects of globalization on migration patterns, and that the report therefore “looks at the increasingly global economy which has led to an unprecedented influx of newcomers in many countries...”.³⁰ The report highlighted the fact that, despite being an “age-old phenomenon”, migration was accelerating as part of broader globalization transformations of economic and trade processes that were enabling greater movement of labour, as well as goods and capital.

Table 1 below provides a summary of key statistics reported in the first edition (World Migration Report 2000), as compared to this current edition. It shows that while some aspects have stayed fairly constant – the overall proportion of the world’s population that are migrants – other aspects have changed dramatically. International remittances, for example, have grown from an estimated USD 128 billion to USD 831 billion, underscoring the salience of international migration as a driver of development. Also of note in Table 1 is the rise in international migrants globally, but more strikingly, the rise in the number of refugees and internally displaced persons, all the while remaining small proportions of the world’s population.

Sources: See IOM, 2000 and the present edition of the report for sources.
Notes: The dates of the data estimates in the table may be different to the report publishing date (refer to the reports for more detail on dates of estimates); refer to Chapter 3 of this report for regional breakdowns.

The World Migration Report 2000’s contribution to migration policy as well as migration studies was timely, and its success heralded the World Migration Report series. Since 2000, 12 world migration reports have been produced by IOM, and the report continues to focus on making a relevant, sound and evidence-based contribution that increases the understanding of migration by policymakers, practitioners, researchers and the general public. To support this objective, the series was refined in 2016, moving away from a single theme for each edition to being a global reference report for a wider audience. Each edition now has two parts, comprising:

• Part I: key data and information on migration and migrants;
• Part II: balanced, evidence-based analysis of complex and emerging migration issues.