A lot has happened in migration in the last two years since the release of the World Migration Report 2018in late 2017.5 The world has witnessed historic change at the global level with United Nations Member States coming together to finalize two global compacts on the international manifestations of migration and displacement: the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the Global Compact on Refugees.

The finalization of the compacts is a result of decades-long efforts by States, international organizations, civil society organizations and other actors (such as private sector organizations) to improve how migration is governed at the international level. In the years leading up to States committing to develop the compacts,6 numerous dialogues, workshops, consultations and side events at international, regional, national as well as local levels have enabled different migration “realities” to be shared and the many areas of common interest to be expanded through deeper understandings of the benefits of migration as well as the challenges it may present. The compacts, therefore, build upon many years of engagement on the key issues underpinning the two compacts.

The unfortunate reality is that there have been major migration and displacement events during the last two years; events that have caused great hardship and trauma as well as loss of life. Foremost have been the displacements of millions of people due to conflict (such as within and from the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan), extreme violence (such as inflicted upon Rohingya forced to seek safety in Bangladesh) or severe economic and political instability (such as faced by millions of Venezuelans).

There has also been growing recognition of the impacts of environmental and climate change on human mobility (such as planned migration/relocation and displacement), including as part of global efforts and international policy mechanisms to address the broader impacts of climate change.7

Large-scale displacement triggered by climate and weather-related hazards occurred in many parts of the world in 2018 and 2019, including in Mozambique, the Philippines, China, India and the United States of America.8We have also seen the scale of international migration increase in line with recent trends. The number of international migrants is estimated to be almost 272 million globally, with nearly two-thirds being labour migrants.9 This figure remains a very small percentage of the world’s population (at 3.5%), meaning that the vast majority of people globally (96.5%) are estimated to be residing in the country in which they were born.

However, the estimated number and proportion of international migrants already surpasses some projections made for the year 2050, which were in the order of 2.6 per cent or 230 million.10 That said, it is widely recognized that the scale and pace of international migration is notoriously difficult to predict with precision because it is closely connected to acute events (such as severe instability, economic crisis or conflict) as well as long-term trends (such as demographic change, economic development, communications technology advances and transportation access).11

We also know from long-term data that international migration is not uniform across the world but is shaped by economic, geographic, demographic and other factors resulting in distinct migration patterns, such as migration “corridors” developed over many years (see chapter 3 of this report for details). The largest corridors tend to be from developing countries to larger economies such as those of the United States, France, the Russian Federation, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. This pattern is likely to remain the same for many years into the future, especially as populations in some developing subregions and countries are projected to increase in coming decades, placing migration pressure on future generations.