Migration to OECD countries hits record high in 2022, with further rise expected

More than 6 million new permanent immigrants moved to member countries last year

Migrants rescued from a boat crossing the English Channel land on Dungeness Beach in Kent. PA

Migration to OECD countries reached a record high last year, with a further increase expected this year, a report from the 38-member bloc has found.

In total, 6.1 million new permanent immigrants, excluding Ukrainian refugees, moved to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries last year, representing a 26 per cent rise compared with 2021.

More than one in three OECD countries registered their highest levels in at least 15 years, including Canada, the UK, New Zealand and European countries such as Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and France, according to the International Migration Outlook 2023 report, which was released on Monday.

Jean-Christophe Dumont, head of the OECD’s International Migration division, told The National 2022 was a record year for different reasons across the bloc.

He said: "There were some countries that remained closed or reopened after Covid-19 later than others, New Zealand, Australia and Japan in particular. So there was some catching up effect."

The top four destination countries were the US, Germany, the UK and Spain, with Britain experiencing the largest rise among them at 35 per cent, with more than 521,000 new permanent immigrants.

The year saw the number of small boats crossings across the English Channel reach a record high, with almost 46,000 people making the often treacherous journey. The issue has continued into 2023, albeit at a slower pace.

On Monday, men, women and children were brought ashore by Border Force in the first migrant crossings of the English Channel in a week. In total, 26,116 have been brought ashore since the start of the year, compared with 37,575 by this point last year.

However, the increase in migration to the UK was not predominantly driven by asylum seekers, unlike in the US, said Mr Dumont.

"In the UK [the increase] was driven partly by the combination of Brexit and the strong recovery of the economy, which generated a lot of demand for labour, but also some catching up in terms of international students and some new programmes," he said.

"In the US it’s largely driven by asylum."

Asylum applications across the OECD reached a record high last year, with more than 2 million new applications, the highest annual number recorded so far, twice the 2021 level and well above the previous record of 1.7 million in 2015 and 2016.

“The number of new asylum seekers to OECD countries nearly doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, reaching over 2 million – the highest figure on record. The surge was driven primarily by the US, which received over 700 000 applications in 2022,” it said.

“Across the OECD, the main origin countries were Venezuela, Cuba, Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Syria.”

The report suggests migration to OECD countries will continue to increase in 2023.

The movement of people seeking asylum is on the rise this year in Europe, said Mr Dumont.

"Already in Europe for the first six months we have seen an increase of 35 per cent of asylum applications. And most likely the rate in Europe will be aligned [with elsewhere].

"In the US there is also a strong increase in asylum, because the US has introduced new programmes which has enabled more than 30,000 people to come every month from four countries, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to come to the US.

"Asylum broadly will be on the increase and 2023 will be even higher, a record year most likely."

He said it was hard to predict what sort of impact the war in Israel and Gaza would have "unless the war escalates to Lebanon".

It is also difficult to say whether legal migration would continue to increase in the same way, he said. Much of the catch-up due to Covid has been completed in terms of people moving to OECD countries to join family members, or study.

"Labour migration is possible because there are a lot labour shortages across the OECD countries in a variety of sectors. But it is too early to say, honestly," he said.

Last year’s rise was driven by increases in “humanitarian and managed labour migration”, along with accompanying family members, said the OECD.

Family migration represented the largest category, at 40 per cent, with labour migration and free movement each accounting for 21 per cent.

Temporary labour migration, especially seasonal labour migration, also registered a strong increase across the bloc, while the number of admissions of international students approached 2 million for the first time.

The 2022 figures come on top of the flow of refugees from Ukraine, with about 4.7 million displaced Ukrainians in OECD countries, with Germany, Poland and the US hosting the highest number. In total the UN estimates 5.1 million people in Ukraine have been displaced inside the country and more than 6.2 million into neighbouring countries.

About 70 per cent of Ukrainian refugees in OECD countries are women.

“This stands in stark contrast to inflows of asylum seekers recorded in past crises, which predominantly consisted of men,” said the report.

However, it warned that immigrant mothers faced a “disproportionate advantage”, compared with immigrant women without children and their native-born peers.

“On average across the OECD, the gap in employment rates between immigrant and native-born mothers is 20 percentage points,” it said.