Net migration
The number of people entering a country minus the number leaving, over a given period.
In short
Net migration says nothing about why people move. Work, study, family reunification, asylum and everything else are all mixed into one balance.
How it's calculated
Immigration minus emigration for a place over a period, usually a year. It can be reported as a raw count of people or as a rate per 1,000 population, the same convention used for natural increase.
Net migration = immigration − emigration
Typical values
Why it matters here
Net migration isn't broken out as its own layer on the canvas today. Every ridgeline shows total population, with migration's effect already blended in alongside births and deaths. This page exists so that distinction is written down, even where the chart itself doesn't separate it out. The IOM World Migration Report 2024 gives a global overview of international migration flows and their scale.
Migration matters most in countries where it is large relative to the natural increase. In a country like the United States, net immigration adds roughly 3 to 4 per 1,000 per year on top of natural increase of about 2 per 1,000 — so migration accounts for a significant share of total growth. In a country like Bangladesh, emigration has historically been a pressure valve, reducing population pressure and generating remittances, even as the domestic population grew through high natural increase.
Migration and data quality
Net migration is often the least reliable component of population accounting. Emigration is especially hard to measure — people who leave rarely notify a registry. Most national statistics derive net migration as a residual: total population change minus natural increase, which means any measurement error in births or deaths ends up attributed to migration. Historical figures before the mid-20th century should be treated with particular caution.
Frequently asked questions
What is net migration?
Net migration is immigration minus emigration for a country over a given period. It tells you whether a country gained or lost people through movement across its borders, independent of births and deaths. A positive net migration means more people arrived than left; a negative figure means more people departed than arrived. The UN World Population Prospects migration tables include net migration estimates by country and quinquennial period back to 1950.
How does net migration differ from gross migration?
Gross migration is the total number of border crossings in both directions — all arrivals plus all departures. Net migration is just the balance: arrivals minus departures. A country could have very high gross migration while still showing a net migration close to zero.
Can net migration offset natural decrease?
Yes. Several countries with more deaths than births — including Germany, Italy, and Australia at various points — have maintained or grown their total population through net immigration. However, the scale of migration needed to fully offset natural decrease in an ageing population is very large, which is why immigration alone is rarely a complete solution to demographic decline. The OECD International Migration Outlook analyses these dynamics annually.
Which countries have the highest net migration rates?
Small, high-income countries and city-states tend to have the highest net migration rates per 1,000 population — including Luxembourg, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, and the Gulf states. In absolute numbers, the United States consistently receives more migrants than any other single country. Country-level net migration figures are available through the World Bank's migration indicator.