World Migration Down 30 Percent due to Pandemic: UN

According to a UN report released on Friday, the coronavirus pandemic has slowed global migration by about 30 percent, with about two million fewer migrants between 2019 and 2020.

In 2020, there were around 281 million people living outside their country of origin, reports AFP.

The report, entitled “International Migration 2020,” showed that two-thirds of registered migrants lived in just 20 countries, with the United States at the top of the list, with 51 million international migrants in 2020.

Next came Germany with 16 million, 13 million for Saudi Arabia, 12 million for Russia and nine million for Britain.

India, with 18 million Indians living outside their country of origin, heads the list of countries with the highest diaspora in 2020.

Other countries with a large transnational community include Mexico and Russia, each with 11 million, China with 10 million and Syria with eight million.

In 2020, the largest number of international migrants resided in Europe, with a total of 87 million.

Almost half of the foreign migrants originated from the area from which they came, with Europe responsible for the highest proportion of intra-regional migration. Seventy percent of European-born migrants live in a different European region.