The share of immigrants in high-income countries doubled between 1990 and 2020

In international statistics, immigrants are people who have lived for more than one year in a country other than the one where they were born.

Between 1990 and 2020, the share of immigrants in high-income countries doubled, rising from around 7% to 14%. This means that today, one in seven people in high-income countries was born in a different country.

High-income countries often attract migrants with better living conditions, including higher wages, stable political environments, and better public services. In turn, migration has become a crucial driver of population growth in these countries: without migration, the population of high-income countries would have declined since 2020.

This growth is much quicker than in other parts of the world. In contrast, the global share of migrants increased only slightly, with less than one percentage point.

Explore the percentage of immigrants in all countries →

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This page was imported from Our World in Data. “The share of immigrants in high-income countries doubled between 1990 and 2020” by Simon van Teutem, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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