WASHINGTON, April 15 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) — The number of migrants and refugees in the world has almost doubled in the past 30 years, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported, quoting the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday.
“As of 2024, the global stock of legal migrants and refugees had reached 304 million—or 3.7 per cent of the global population – almost double that observed in 1995, with about one in six being refugees or asylum seekers,” the IMF said in a chapter of its World Economic Outlook presented ahead of the fund’s and the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in Washington.
Almost 40 per cent of migrants and three-quarters of refugees now reside in emerging markets and developing economies, it added.
The IMF noted that advanced economies continue to host some of the largest groups of migrants, mostly pulled from emerging market and developing economies.
“Flows to advanced economies accounted for the bulk of global movements in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since then, flows of both migrants and refugees between emerging market and developing economies have increased and now account for almost half of overall net flows, with three of the five largest increases in migrant and refugee stocks during 2010–24 having taken place in large emerging market economies,” the report said.
The IMF warned that changes in migration and refugee policies can have large and significant effects on flows both within and between economies.
“However, it is important to note that such flows constitute a small share of the population of advanced destination economies— averaging about 2 per cent over five years,” it added.
The report also said that policy changes can impose short-term costs, particularly when flows are diverted to jurisdictions in which labour market integration is challenging or skill mismatches are more severe. However, they could also offer long-term gains, it added.
–BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI