Mapped: A Snapshot of Global Migration

Mapped: A Snapshot of Global Migration

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People have moved across the globe since time immemorial.

In the modern era, migration is often driven by the pursuit of better economic opportunities, improved quality of life, or the desire to reunite with family.

Yet when viewed in aggregate, migration becomes far more than a series of individual decisions. It is a complex global force that reshapes societies, economies, and cultures within countries around the world.

This map visualization by Idwardi Ishak uses data from the United Nations and Migration Data Portal to show a snapshot of global migration in 2024.

Global Migration Data by Country or Territory

The below table breaks down total migrants by country or territory, as well as the percentage of migrants of the total population.

Rank	Country/Territory	Total Number of Migrants	Migrants as % of Total Population
1	United States	52,375,047	15.2
2	Germany	16,750,084	19.8
3	Saudi Arabia	13,683,841	40.3
4	United Kingdom	11,845,479	17.1
5	France	9,186,757	13.8
6	Spain	8,870,527	18.5
7	Canada	8,805,839	22.2
8	United Arab Emirates	8,157,000	74.0
9	Australia	8,111,404	30.4
10	Russia	7,605,774	5.3
11	Turkey	7,083,501	8.1
12	Italy	6,553,671	11.0
13	Jordan	5,280,168	45.7
14	Ukraine	5,064,173	13.4
15	India	4,796,255	0.3
16	Pakistan	4,175,958	1.7
17	Iran	3,840,654	4.2
18	Malaysia	3,806,514	10.7
19	Japan	3,409,529	2.8
20	Kuwait	3,323,191	67.4
21	Thailand	3,179,399	4.4
22	Colombia	3,063,518	5.8
23	Hong Kong	3,063,318	41.3
24	Netherlands	2,956,518	16.2
25	Bangladesh	2,906,338	1.7
26	Ivory Coast	2,880,839	9.0
27	Singapore	2,841,665	48.7
28	Switzerland	2,773,840	31.1
29	South Africa	2,631,100	4.1
30	Sudan	2,397,113	4.8
31	Belgium	2,349,032	20.0
32	Qatar	2,337,000	76.7
33	Austria	2,327,064	25.5
34	Oman	2,283,366	43.2
35	Sweden	2,272,158	21.4
36	Israel	2,091,569	22.3
37	Kazakhstan	2,089,797	10.2
38	Uganda	2,057,759	4.1
39	Argentina	1,958,039	4.3
40	Peru	1,837,219	5.4
41	South Korea	1,811,507	3.5
42	Poland	1,739,901	4.5
43	Mexico	1,726,089	1.3
44	China	1,638,718	0.1
45	Chile	1,538,324	7.8
46	New Zealand	1,467,989	28.2
47	Greece	1,423,964	14.2
48	Lebanon	1,422,583	24.5
49	Brazil	1,406,299	0.7
50	Nigeria	1,403,281	0.6
51	Chad	1,269,673	6.3
52	Venezuela	1,263,304	4.5
53	Ireland	1,216,237	23.1
54	Ethiopia	1,168,455	0.9
55	Uzbekistan	1,154,963	3.2
56	Egypt	1,139,820	1.0
57	Taiwan	1,136,425	4.9
58	Portugal	1,127,184	10.8
59	DR Congo	1,085,090	1.0
60	Belarus	1,054,604	11.6
61	Czech Republic	1,025,199	9.6
62	Norway	1,012,404	18.2
63	Kenya	992,536	1.8
64	South Sudan	914,001	7.7
65	Libya	897,751	12.2
66	Syria	896,042	3.6
67	Denmark	847,475	14.2
68	Bahrain	840,202	52.3
69	Ecuador	747,749	4.1
70	Burkina Faso	739,820	3.1
71	Dominican Republic	738,667	6.5
72	Serbia	712,550	10.6
73	Hungary	689,565	7.1
74	Angola	676,507	1.8
75	Romania	655,579	3.5
76	Cameroon	642,948	2.2
77	Costa Rica	628,404	12.3
78	Mali	545,323	2.2
79	Ghana	532,286	1.6
80	Croatia	527,831	13.6
81	Finland	514,432	9.2
82	Rwanda	513,316	3.6
83	Panama	477,749	10.6
84	Nepal	470,719	1.6
85	Tanzania	462,371	0.7
86	Gabon	449,746	17.7
87	Niger	449,236	1.7
88	Indonesia	445,726	0.2
89	Zimbabwe	429,108	2.6
90	Macau	426,862	59.3
91	Benin	418,202	2.9
92	Yemen	392,997	1.0
93	Burundi	387,101	2.8
94	Congo	385,589	6.1
95	Iraq	370,980	0.8
96	Mozambique	353,143	1.0
97	Luxembourg	344,309	51.2
98	Vietnam	326,418	0.3
99	Slovakia	323,991	5.9
100	Slovenia	315,122	14.9
101	Bulgaria	299,100	4.4
102	Togo	281,994	3.0
103	Senegal	281,867	1.5
104	Tajikistan	276,777	2.6
105	Armenia	274,645	9.2
106	Palestine	272,481	5.0
107	Algeria	259,458	0.6
108	Zambia	249,205	1.2
109	Equatorial Guinea	248,930	13.2
110	Gambia	236,137	8.6
111	Puerto Rico	223,323	6.9
112	Latvia	220,471	11.8
113	Azerbaijan	218,460	2.1
114	Estonia	203,046	14.9
115	Cyprus	202,062	14.9
116	Malta	199,466	37.0
117	Mauritania	195,937	3.8
118	Kyrgyzstan	194,816	2.7
119	Turkmenistan	193,763	2.6
120	Moldova	188,207	6.2
121	Malawi	186,719	0.9
122	Bolivia	183,234	1.5
123	Paraguay	180,837	2.6
124	Lithuania	175,194	6.1
125	Uruguay	160,064	4.7
126	North Macedonia	150,902	8.3
127	Mayotte	143,528	44.0
128	Réunion	135,534	15.4
129	French Guiana	130,924	42.4
130	Djibouti	125,996	10.8
131	Brunei	119,933	25.9
132	Guinea	117,416	0.8
133	Botswana	116,402	4.6
134	Namibia	116,035	3.8
135	Trinidad and Tobago	113,478	7.5
136	Morocco	111,069	0.3
137	Iceland	98,818	25.1
138	Afghanistan	98,110	0.2
139	Central African Republic	94,556	1.8
140	Guatemala	92,732	0.5
141	Montenegro	92,237	14.5
142	Guadeloupe	89,610	23.9
143	Philippines	87,212	0.1
144	Channel Islands	85,539	50.9
145	Guam	84,159	50.2
146	Cambodia	83,925	0.5
147	Georgia	81,582	2.1
148	Curaçao	80,020	43.1
149	Myanmar	79,052	0.2
150	Somalia	77,972	0.4
151	New Caledonia	76,738	26.2
152	Maldives	75,099	14.2
153	Aruba	73,494	68.0
154	Liberia	72,423	1.3
155	Belize	68,706	16.5
156	Martinique	68,187	19.9
157	Bahamas	67,285	16.8
158	Tunisia	63,201	0.5
159	U.S. Virgin Islands	56,779	66.9
160	Bhutan	55,705	7.0
161	Guyana	54,175	6.5
162	Suriname	51,902	8.2
163	Laos	51,446	0.7
164	North Korea	50,439	0.2
165	Sierra Leone	49,997	0.6
166	Andorra	48,408	59.1
167	Albania	46,377	1.7
168	Nicaragua	43,757	0.6
169	Isle of Man	43,693	51.9
170	El Salvador	43,342	0.7
171	Sri Lanka	40,698	0.2
172	Honduras	39,901	0.4
173	Madagascar	38,625	0.1
174	Barbados	35,187	12.5
175	Bosnia and Herzegovina	34,120	1.1
176	Eswatini	33,268	2.7
177	Cayman Islands	31,935	42.9
178	Papua New Guinea	31,171	0.3
179	Bonaire	30,676	100.0
180	Antigua and Barbuda	30,473	32.5
181	Sint Maarten	30,148	43.0
182	French Polynesia	30,099	10.7
183	Mauritius	29,142	2.3
184	Turks and Caicos Islands	28,455	61.1
185	Liechtenstein	27,669	69.4
186	Monaco	27,106	70.2
187	British Virgin Islands	24,520	62.1
188	Jamaica	24,007	0.9
189	American Samoa	23,684	50.6
190	Mongolia	22,589	0.7
191	Northern Mariana Islands	22,000	49.7
192	Bermuda	20,171	31.2
193	Haiti	19,581	0.2
194	Cape Verde	16,515	3.2
195	Guinea-Bissau	15,064	0.7
196	Lesotho	15,039	0.6
197	Fiji	14,362	1.6
198	Seychelles	13,261	10.2
199	Eritrea	12,512	0.4
200	Comoros	12,449	1.4
201	Gibraltar	11,291	28.7
202	Dominica	8,440	12.8
203	East Timor	8,303	0.6
204	Faroe Islands	8,101	14.6
205	Saint Lucia	8,079	4.5
206	Saint Kitts and Nevis	7,958	17.0
207	Grenada	7,340	6.3
208	Anguilla	5,918	40.5
209	San Marino	5,838	17.4
210	Greenland	5,812	10.4
211	Western Sahara	5,628	1.0
212	Palau	5,212	29.5
213	Cook Islands	4,937	36.0
214	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	4,820	4.8
215	Samoa	3,843	1.8
216	Tonga	3,581	3.4
217	Vanuatu	3,315	1.0
218	Marshall Islands	3,309	8.8
219	Kiribati	3,302	2.5
220	Micronesia	2,894	2.6
221	Nauru	2,548	21.3
222	Solomon Islands	2,469	0.3
223	Falkland Islands	2,333	67.2
224	Cuba	2,144	0.0
225	Wallis and Futuna	2,032	18.0
226	São Tomé and Príncipe	1,955	0.8
227	Tokelau	1,282	3.0
228	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	1,008	17.9
229	Niue	588	32.3
230	Vatican City	496	100.0
231	Saint Helena	492	9.4
232	Tuvalu	246	2.6

As of 2024, the world’s migrant population has reached 304 million people, reflecting a steady rise in cross-border movement.

The United States continues to stand apart as the world’s pre-eminent destination, hosting 52.4 million migrants, which is more than the next four destination countries combined.

Other major recipients include Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, underscoring how advanced economies and energy-rich states rely heavily on foreign-born workers to sustain growth, fill labor shortages, and offset aging populations.

Origin Stories: Where Global Migrants Come From

Looking at where migrants come from tells a different story. India and China remain the largest sources of people living abroad, a reflection of their vast populations and deep integration into global labor markets. In these cases, migration is often driven by economic opportunity rather than displacement.

By contrast, countries such as Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela illustrate how conflict, political instability, and economic collapse can rapidly reshape migration flows. In these cases, migration is less a choice than a necessity, with sudden surges driven by crises that spill across borders.

Where Migrants Make Up the Majority

One of the most striking patterns in the data appears in the Gulf states. Countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait have some of the highest migrant-to-population ratios in the world, with foreign-born residents accounting for a majority of the workforce.

These economies depend heavily on migrant labor across construction, services, and energy-related industries.

Small island territories and city-states—such as Monaco, Luxembourg, and Singapore—also report exceptionally high shares of migrants, reflecting their openness, economic specialization, and limited domestic labor pools.

At the other end of the spectrum, much of Africa and South America remains characterized by relatively modest levels of immigration when measured as a share of population. That said, internal and regional mobility is increasing, suggesting that migration pressures are shifting rather than disappearing.

Migration as a Structural Force

Taken together, the data depict a world in which migration is no longer the exception but the norm. Labor demand in wealthy nations, demographic aging, and persistent instability in parts of the developing world ensure that borders—however politicized—remain porous to people as well as to goods and capital.

As governments grapple with immigration policy, the underlying forces driving migration continue to intensify, making it one of the defining economic and social dynamics of the 21st century.

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Which U.S. cities have the biggest migrant communities by share of population? See this map to find out.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-global-migration-snapshot/