[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:72:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","global",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"inequalities",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","bcffa2387bb182b081e1f23ab7457314","Entry","2021-11-11T07:10:04.643Z","2025-04-29T16:22:14.946Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",206,73,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"shortQuestionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":129,"correctSentence":161,"youWereWrong":162,"youWereRight":163,"dataSourceShortText":164,"dataSourceLinkLongText":165,"extendedAnswerText":166,"headingVeryWrong":167,"youWereVeryWrong":162,"headingWrong":167},"72",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"6308597200acd51f45ade334a6a9ba79","2021-11-11T06:55:14.624Z","2024-09-30T09:07:14.707Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},64,58,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"72-a1",true,false,"4%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"398296e2899957b4acc53717c256617a","2021-11-11T06:55:16.122Z","2024-09-30T09:07:14.748Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"72-a2","14%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"99ef02ba880ba6552ddc5f08416fcc38","2021-11-11T06:55:17.472Z","2024-09-30T09:07:14.793Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"72-a3","24%",88,"Population living in another country","In 1990, 3% of the world’s population lived in a different country than where they were born. What is that share today?",[98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128],"uk 0.86","usa 0.82","arg 0.89","aus 0.89","bel 0.88","bra 0.91","can 0.85","chn 0.79","fra 0.85","deu 0.86","hun 0.92","idn 0.88","ita 0.91","jpn 0.82","mex 0.93","pol 0.9","rus 0.89","sau 0.85","sgp 0.9","kor 0.8","esp 0.9","swe 0.84","tur 0.86","mys 0.87","egy 0.9","are 0.9","col 0.94","rou 0.93","per 0.9","jor 0.93","mar 0.89",[130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152,153,154,155,156,157,158,159,160],"uk 0.38","usa 0.31","arg 0.43","aus 0.4","bel 0.34","bra 0.4","can 0.36","chn 0.2","fra 0.30","deu 0.34","hun 0.39","idn 0.35","ita 0.43","jpn 0.26","mex 0.48","pol 0.48","rus 0.4","sau 0.42","sgp 0.43","kor 0.26","esp 0.43","swe 0.29","tur 0.34","mys 0.34","egy 0.45","are 0.39","col 0.52","rou 0.52","per 0.45","jor 0.53","mar 0.48","Today, 3.7% of the world’s population live in a different country to the one they were born in.","In the news it looks like everyone is on the move. We hear a lot about migration and refugees. In reality, most people stay in their country of birth.","They don’t realize that most people are either happy to live in the country where they were born or can’t afford to move somewhere else.\n","Data source: UN International Migrant Stock (2020)","This data comes from the UN International Migrant Stock (2024)[1] and uses mostly census data, equating international migrants with the foreign-born population whenever possible. The percentage of the total population that lived in another country than the one they were born in was 3.7% in 2024. \n\nIn most countries that lacked data on place of birth, information on the country of citizenship was available and was used as the basis for the identification of international migrants. \nIn these cases, equating international migrants with foreign citizens (this was for 46 of the countries or areas). \nThere are some drawbacks with this: People who were born in the country of residence may be included in the number of international migrants even though they may have never lived abroad. Also, people who were born abroad and who naturalized in their country of residence are excluded from the stock of international migrants when using citizenship to define international migrants.\n\nThe UN says coverage of refugees in population censuses is uneven. In countries where refugees have been granted refugee status and allowed to integrate, they are normally covered by the population census as any other international migrant. However, in many countries, refugees lack freedom of movement and are required to reside in camps or other designated areas. In these cases, population censuses may ignore refugees. When it comes to undocumented immigrants, they may or may not be included depending on the country. \n\nNo matter how you count, the number of 4% will be much closer to the truth than any of the other alternatives.\n\n[1]  [UN International Migrant Stock (2024)](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.un.org\u002Fdevelopment\u002Fdesa\u002Fpd\u002Fcontent\u002Finternational-migrant-stock) \n[2]  [UN International Migrant Stock (2020) Methodology](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.un.org\u002Fdevelopment\u002Fdesa\u002Fpd\u002Fsites\u002Fwww.un.org.development.desa.pd\u002Ffiles\u002Fundesa_pd_2020_international_migrant_stock_documentation.pdf)  \n[3]  [International Migrant Stock World Map - Migration Data Portal](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.migrationdataportal.org\u002Finternational-data?t=2024&i=stock_perc_)\n[4]  For this question we consulted two independent experts, including Madeleine Sumption of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University.","Globally, migration is just as common as it was 30 years ago. The number of people living abroad has increased since 1990, but so has the world population, and therefore the overall share has not increased much.\n\nIn the media we hear a lot about people moving all over the world for work or other reasons. There is also a lot of coverage of refugees being displaced or fleeing their homes to another country, which probably explains why people overestimate the global number of migrants by a lot. \n\nIn reality, the vast majority of people live in the country they were born in. \n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nA lot of media coverage focuses on the few people that live abroad. On TV and in the tabloids we see celebrities and other filthy rich globetrotters that easily and often move around the world. And in the news, we see refugees that have had to risk their lives to flee their country because of war and other catastrophes. \nBut both are exceptions. Most people are neither filthy rich celebrities, nor refugees and most of us stay in the country where we were born. \n\n### Why is it a problem if people are wrong about this?\nOverestimating global migration easily leads to a feeling that the control of a country’s borders has been lost and tougher rules are needed. Across the world, most people who say they want to move to a different country are hindered by visa regulations or they don’t have the money needed.\n\n### Is the number of immigrants this low in all countries?\nNo, as with any global figure there is large variation between countries and regions. \nIn high-income countries, the percentage of the population born in another country is on average 15%. In Oceania, the percentage of the population who are foreign born is above 20%, whereas in regions like Asia, Africa and Latin America the shares are all around 2%. In [this graph](https:\u002F\u002Fgapm.io\u002Fvms), you can visualize the share of immigrants in different countries and the variation across the countries over time. \nInterestingly, when we tested this question in different countries, there was little or no relationship between a country’s own level of migration and how wrong people were when it came to this question.\n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes, you can but you need to keep a few things in mind. The first thing is recognizing the large differences between countries and regions, as this is a percentage of the total global population. \nAnother thing is that in some countries data on the foreign born population is not available so instead information on the country of citizenship was used.\nAlso, coverage of refugees in census data can be very uneven across countries, and undocumented immigrants are not recorded in all countries. \nDespite these caveats, the experts we have spoken to agree with the global figure of 4% and believe this data to be trustworthy. \n","Almost everyone stays put"]