Debunking myths of global migration

The rate of global migration remain at historically low levels, with migrants making up less than three percent of the world's population according to the latest available data.

These low rates persist despite the substantial benefits that accrue to migrants in the form of higher wages and to recipient countries in the form of new jobs and increases in economy-wide productivity.

These findings, presented by economist Ça'lar Özden at a Policy Research Talk held earlier this month at the World Bank, are based on new data sets that have for the first time allowed a comprehensive picture of bilateral global migration over the last half of the twentieth century.

These include the Global Bilateral Migration Database, covering migrants in 226 countries and regions of the world, and the Global Skilled Migration Database, which tracks patterns of migration with data on the level of migrants' education.

Between 1960 and 2000, the number of migrants increased from 92 million to 165 million, but the overall share of migrants in the world's population hovered around 2.5 percent.

The demographics of the migrant population changed over this period, however, with the biggest increase among college-educated female migrants. The data also shows that South-North migration grew the most among all corridors between 1960 and 2000, increasing by 55 percent.

And just four countries - the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom - attracted 65 percent of high-skilled immigrants from around the globe.