Countries by International migrant stock, total

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures the total number of people residing in a country who were born elsewhere, counted at mid-year. Per the source definition, international migrant stock, total is the number of people at mid-year born in a country other than that in which they live, and it also includes refugees. The unit is an absolute count of individuals. The dataset covers 214 countries, with 100% of data points rated official quality and all 214 countries reporting data from within the last seven years, using a reference year of 2024. The indicator code is SM.POP.TOTL from the World Bank World Development Indicators. The viability checks identified 22 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the range across all 214 countries spans from 246 to 52,375,047, a spread of over 21 million percent.

The top of the ranking is dominated by large wealthy economies and major Gulf states. The United States leads at rank 1 with 52,375,047 migrants. Germany sits at rank 2 with 16,750,084, followed by Saudi Arabia at rank 3 with 13,683,841. The United Kingdom ranks 4th at 11,845,479 and France 5th at 9,186,757. The United Arab Emirates at rank 8 holds 8,157,000 migrants despite a relatively small total population, and Qatar at rank 32 records 2,337,000. Among mid-tier wealthy nations, Switzerland ranks 28th at 2,773,840 and Singapore 27th at 2,841,665, both hosting large migrant populations relative to their size. High absolute values in this ranking can reflect large land area, large total population, geographic position, or economic conditions that draw labor migration.

Several placements in the middle of the ranking are notable. Jordan ranks 13th globally at 5,280,168 migrants, placing it ahead of much larger countries such as India at rank 15 with 4,796,255 and Brazil at rank 49 with 1,406,299. Ukraine ranks 14th at 5,064,173. Colombia at rank 22 records 3,063,518 migrants, placing it directly above Hong Kong SAR, China at rank 23 with 3,063,318, a difference of just 200 migrants. At the lower end of the ranking, Cuba records only 2,144 migrants at rank 212, and Sao Tome and Principe records 1,955 at rank 213, with Tuvalu at rank 214 holding the minimum value of 246. Pacific island nations and small Caribbean states cluster at the bottom, while larger continental nations such as Indonesia at rank 87 with 445,726 and the Philippines at rank 138 with 87,212 place relatively low despite large total populations.

This metric counts migrants by country of birth, not citizenship or legal status, which means naturalized citizens born abroad are included while foreign-born individuals who have renounced ties to their birth country may still be counted. Refugees are included per the definition, but stateless persons and undocumented migrants may be inconsistently captured across countries. Absolute counts favor large or geographically extensive countries and do not reflect migrant share of total population, making direct comparisons across countries of very different sizes potentially misleading. Reporting methodologies differ across national statistical offices, and data for some countries may rely on estimates or interpolations rather than direct census or registry counts. The 22 extreme outliers flagged in the viability checks indicate that a small number of countries pull the distribution significantly, which should be considered when interpreting rankings near the extremes.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SM.POP.TOTL, with a reference year of 2024. Per the source definition, international migrant stock, total is the number of people at mid-year born in a country other than that in which they live, and it also includes refugees. The unit is an absolute count. Coverage spans 214 countries, with 100% of data points classified as official quality and all 214 countries providing data from within the last seven years. The viability checks found 22 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 23.1%, within the acceptable volatility threshold of 50%. Values range from 246 (Tuvalu, rank 214) to 52,375,047 (United States, rank 1), a spread of approximately 21,290,570%. Higher values indicate a larger total number of foreign-born residents and are treated as better in this ranking.

Sources

• World Bank