Dataset · UN DESA Population Division
International Migrants
8 years, 1990–2024 · 221 countries · 2 measures
This is the number of international migrants living in each country — people born in another country, or foreign citizens where a country counts by citizenship, including refugees. The UN Population Division estimates it for every country from censuses, population registers and surveys.
This site holds every year from 1990 to 2024, read from UN DESA Population Division’s own data and stored exactly as published.
International Migrants · the file
- Newest
- International Migrants, 2024
- Held
- 8 years · 1,764 rows
- Licence
- CC BY 3.0 IGO
018 years
Every year
Every year comes from UN DESA Population Division’s 2024 release, recalculated on one method. Each opens the full table for that year; each downloads as a CSV.
| Year | Countries | Change | Read | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Migrants, 2024Newest | 221 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 2020 | 221 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 2015 | 221 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 2010 | 221 | +1 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 2005 | 220 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 2000 | 220 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 1995 | 220 | ±0 | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
| International Migrants, 1990 | 220 | — | September 29, 2026 | CSV |
Every year in one file, one row per country per year: international-migrants-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv
025 columns
What’s in the file
Every column, what it holds, how it is stored and what its values look like — what a reader needs before opening the file.
| Column | What it holds | Stored as | Range, 2024 | Distinct | Empty | Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CountrycountryName | The country’s name, as this file spells it. | Text | — | 221 | 0 | |
ISO Codecountry_codeIdentifier | The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, added by this site. Every table here joins on it. | Text · 3 letters | — | 221 | 0 | |
International migrants living in the country, mid-year (people)international_migrantsHeadline | The headline figure: International migrants living in the country, mid-year (people). | Number · whole numbers | 246 Tuvalu52,375,047 United Statesmiddle 223,323 | 221 | 0 | |
Women among these migrants (%)female_shareMeasure | Women as a share of the international migrants living in the country, in %. | Number · up to 14 decimals | 12.3317 Maldives69.8644 Nepalmiddle 49.4926 | 221 | 0 | |
Type of data (B, C, R, I)data_typeLabel | How the migrants were counted: B by country of birth, C by citizenship, R with refugees added from UNHCR or UNRWA counts, I estimated without any data for the country. | Text | — | 7 | 0 |
Profiled from the newest file. Range: the lowest and highest value, with the country holding it when only one does. Spread: countries in ten equal steps from lowest to highest. Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score.
03221 countries across every year
Who is covered
How many countries each year holds, continent by continent, who joined and who left, and which places this site covers that the dataset never has.
| 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 53 | 53 | 53 | 53 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 |
| Americas | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 47 |
| Asia | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 | 51 |
| Europe | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 48 |
| Oceania | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| All | 220 | 220 | 220 | 220 | 221 | 221 | 221 | 221 |
Who joined and who left
- 2010
+ Sudan
Not in this dataset · 4 places this site covers
UN DESA Population Division gives no figure for these in any year held here. It is the publisher’s choice of scope, and each place’s profile shows what is measured.
04Provenance
Where it comes from
The path from the publisher to this page, and what was checked and changed on the way.
1 · Publisher
UN DESA Population Division
2 · Their file
International Migrant Stock 2024: international migrants, 2024
3 · Read by this site
September 29, 2026
Imported by a script that parses each figure and writes it down unrounded.4 · Stored as
8 files, one per year
Each downloads as a CSV, or every year together as international-migrants-all-editions-nations-inquiry.csv5 · Used on
Its statistic page, and every profile it measures
Precision
The headline is stored in whole numbers, as published.
Rounded by this site
Never. Tables on screen may show fewer decimals; the files never do.
Changed by this site
Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.
From International Migrant Stock 2024, read from the UN Population Division's own workbook. The World Bank republishes the same counts; its copy of the share is rounded to one decimal, which is why the Division's own file is used here.
05Reuse
Licence and credit
What the publisher’s licence lets you do, what it asks of you, and a credit line and citation ready to copy.
Licence · checked September 29, 2026
- Share and redistribute it
- Adapt it and build on it
- Use it commercially
- Credit the publisher
- Say what you changed
The version of CC BY written for intergovernmental organisations. Credit the publisher and say what you changed.
A credit line
Source: UN DESA Population Division, International Migrants, via Nations Inquiry.
Cite this dataset
UN DESA Population Division. International Migrants, 1990–2024 [data set]. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/international-migrants
The publisher’s own citation: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). International Migrant Stock 2024.
Plain-language summary, not legal advice. The licence text is what binds.
06Where it is used
Around the site
Where these numbers appear on this site, and the datasets nearest to it.
Charted
International Migrants by countryWho is highest, the map, the spread, who rose and fell, and the records.
Subjects
Near neighbours
- Population Living in Cities (Degree of Urbanisation)UN DESA Population Division · 76 held · 1950–2025
- Urban Population Share (National Definitions)UN DESA Population Division · 76 held · 1950–2025
- Crude Birth RateUN DESA Population Division · 74 held · 1950–2023
07Questions
International Migrants: questions and answers
What is the International Migrants?
This is the number of international migrants living in each country — people born in another country, or foreign citizens where a country counts by citizenship, including refugees. The UN Population Division estimates it for every country from censuses, population registers and surveys.
Which years of the International Migrants can I download?
All 8, from 1990 to 2024, each as a CSV file, or every year together in one CSV.
Does UN DESA Population Division rank countries on it?
No, and this site does not order it either. The files hold values only.
Can I use it commercially?
Yes, under CC BY 3.0 IGO, with credit to UN DESA Population Division. The licence text is linked on this page.