International Migration Outlook 2026

Executive summary

Migration flows remain historically high despite a second consecutive decline

Permanent migration fell for a second consecutive year by 1.6% in 2025, reaching 6.1 million new permanent immigrants. Despite this decrease, migration levels remained historically high, 12% above those observed in 2019.

Southern European countries recorded strong growth, with particularly large increases in Portugal, Italy and Spain, while several major destination countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, experienced notable declines. Family reunification remained the principal channel of permanent migration (45% of total inflow). Labour migration (20%) continued to expand, reflecting persistent labour demand across many sectors, whereas humanitarian migration (10%) declined significantly.

About 2.2 million temporary work permits and authorisations were issued in 2025, remaining one‑fifth above pre‑pandemic levels. Seasonal worker programmes continued to grow, while most other temporary labour categories either stabilised or declined modestly. The number of posted workers in European OECD countries also continued to increase, reaching almost 3.5 million in 2024.

International student mobility changed significantly. While total inflows of tertiary students fell from 1.9 million in 2024 to 1.6 million in 2025, this decline was concentrated in traditional English-speaking destinations. In contrast, European countries continued to attract growing numbers of international students, with particularly strong increases in Italy, Germany and Austria. China and India remained by far the largest source countries.

Asylum applications declined across most OECD countries in 2025 after reaching record levels in previous years. Excluding the United States, applications fell by more than one‑fifth compared with 2024, although they remained above pre‑pandemic levels. The composition of asylum flows also changed, with applications from Syrian nationals falling sharply, while several African nationalities gained importance. Indicators of irregular migration likewise declined in many OECD countries, while returns continued to increase.

Labour market outcomes remain resilient but challenges persist

Despite signs of economic slowdown in some countries, labour market outcomes for immigrants remained robust in 2025. Migrant participation rates increased in most OECD countries and continued to exceed those of the native‑born in many cases. While employment rates improved in over half of OECD countries, unemployment rates increased in a majority of countries, highlighting growing labour market uncertainty.

As in recent years, the situation of migrant women improved the most. Their employment rates increased in a majority of OECD countries, contributing to a continued narrowing of gender employment gaps. Nevertheless, significant differences remain, with migrant women still substantially less likely to be employed than migrant men.

Migration and integration policies are becoming more selective and conditional

Many OECD countries introduced measures to reduce irregular migration through strengthened border management, enhanced enforcement and expanded return policies. Several countries also tightened asylum systems through stricter eligibility criteria, faster procedures and a greater emphasis on the temporary nature of protection and return. Within the European Union, implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum advanced significantly, accompanied by broader reforms to migration governance.

Concern over competition for highly skilled workers led many OECD countries to expand talent visas, fast-track procedures and recruitment programmes for strategic sectors including technology, healthcare and research. International researcher mobility emerged as a growing policy priority, reflecting broader concerns about innovation, competitiveness and technological leadership.

Integration policies also reflected the new emphasis on conditionality and targeting. Fiscal pressures, housing shortages and growing demands on public services have encouraged governments to place greater emphasis on activation, conditionality and labour market participation. Integration measures are increasingly tailored to different migrant groups, introduced earlier in the migration journey and linked more closely to employment outcomes. At the same time, many countries have strengthened language, civic knowledge and residency requirements for long-term residence and citizenship.

Migration plays a growing role in addressing labour shortages in long-term care

Demographic ageing is generating rapidly growing demand for long-term care services while simultaneously reducing the number of available workers. As a result, labour shortages in the care sector are expected to intensify.

Migrants already represent a substantial share of the long-term care workforce in several OECD countries and are increasingly viewed as part of the solution to workforce shortages. However, migration is only one component of a broader policy response that must also include workforce development, productivity improvements and technological innovation. OECD countries rely on diverse migration pathways to recruit care workers, although dedicated migration programmes remain relatively uncommon. Significant differences in qualification requirements, language standards and professional recognition systems continue to create barriers to mobility and recruitment.

Retention remains a major challenge for the sector. Policies that improve working conditions, support career progression and facilitate longer-term settlement are likely to be important to ensure a sustainable care workforce, including among foreign workers.

Maximising migration’s contribution to productivity growth

Reviving productivity growth is top of the policy agenda across OECD countries. As migration plays an increasingly important role in these economies, a challenge for migration and integration policies is to harness its potential to support productivity growth, maximising economic benefits while mitigating possible adverse effects.

Migration influences productivity through multiple channels. It alters the skill composition of the workforce, supports innovation and entrepreneurship, influences firms’ investment decisions and affects the allocation of labour across sectors and occupations. Migrants remain disproportionately represented among researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, while at the same time facing barriers that may prevent their skills from being fully utilised.

The report finds that migrants are often concentrated in lower-productivity sectors and firms, which can weigh on aggregate productivity outcomes. However, productivity effects can improve over time when migrant workers move towards more productive activities and when policies promote better matching between skills and jobs. Effective migration and integration policies therefore remain critical for maximising the long-term economic contribution of immigration while balancing wider objectives, including maintaining essential public services and addressing demographic challenges.

Key findings

• Permanent migration to the OECD fell by 1.6% in 2025, but excluding Portugal, Italy and Spain the decline reaches 8.2% (-7.9% among European OECD countries).

• Despite a sharp decline, India remained the top origin country of migration flows to the OECD in 2024, ahead of China and Colombia.

• Immigrants made up 12% of OECD countries’ population in 2025, up from 9.2 in 2015.

• Acquisitions of citizenship in OECD countries increased in 2025 to reach 3 million.

• On average in the OECD, almost 71% of migrants are employed while the employment rate for migrant women is still at 63.4%.