Promoting evidence-based policymaking for fair and effective governance of labour migration

• The share of migrants in the global labour force should be recognized as a stable and essential component of the world economy. In 2022, international migrants accounted for 4.7 per cent of the global labour force, representing an estimated 167.7 million people.
• Most international migrant workers are of prime working age, highlighting the value placed on skills and experience in labour migration systems. In total, 61.3 per cent are men and 38.7 per cent are women. High-income countries account for 68.4 per cent (114.7 million), followed by upper-middle-income countries at 17.4 per cent (29.2 million).
• More than two thirds of international migrants in the labour force contribute to the services sector, underscoring their vital role – especially women, who are disproportionately represented in the care economy. This trend is driven by the growing demand for healthcare and domestic work in high- and middle-income countries, largely due to ageing populations.
• In advancing a fair and effective labour migration agenda, the ILO supports governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations in three core areas:
  
  • promoting sustainable labour migration governance institutions;
  • strengthening linkages between migration and well-functioning labour markets;
  • enhancing rights, protection and access to justice for migrant workers.

*This policy brief is based on ILO (2024a), which presents the most recent estimates on the stock of international migrants in the labour force, employed international migrants and unemployed international migrants for the reference year 2022. The estimates are disaggregated by sex, country income group and region.