International Migration Report 2002

In recent years, the issue of international migration has become a key concern in many countries, some of which have further tightened their policies towards immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The movement of people raises many policy challenges, since it has the potential for benefiting both the countries of origin and destination involved, by facilitating the transfer of skills and promoting cultural diversity. However, it can also entail the loss of human resources to the country of origin and may give rise to political, economic and social tensions in the destination country. This UN report summarises international migration trends and policies in developed and developing countries, as well as presenting profiles for individual countries, regions, major areas and special groups of countries. Current estimates indicate about 175 million people (or three per cent of the world's population) reside outside their country of birth, more than double the number since 1970. Most of the world's migrants live in the more developed regions and the countries with the largest international migrant populations are the United States (35 million) followed by the Russian Federation (13 million) and Germany (7 million).United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division Staff is the author of 'International Migration Report 2002', published 2003 under ISBN 9789211513752 and ISBN 9211513758.