Most migrants stay in the continent where they were born

Moving between continents is less common than moving to another country within the same region. For most people, international migration means crossing a nearby border, rather than a very long distance or even an ocean.

Consider Asia, the world's most populous continent.

When an Asian emigrant leaves their home country, they can either move to another Asian country or head to one of the other five continents.

Data from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs shows that six out of ten Asian emigrants remain within Asia. In other words, more Asian emigrants move to other Asian countries than to all other continents combined.

European and North American emigrants show an even stronger tendency to stay in their continent, at 70% and 87%, respectively. This share is smaller in Africa and South America, at around half.

While this data aims to include illegal migrants, experts acknowledge the challenges in fully measuring these populations.

Read our full article on how far migrants travel from their home countries →

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This page was imported from Our World in Data. “Most migrants stay in the continent where they were born” by Simon van Teutem, Tuna Acisu, Charlie Giattino, 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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