Focus

Highlights

1. 1.

   Globally, migrant workers constitute 4.9 per cent of the labour force of destination countries. Migrant workers constitute 41.4 per cent of the labour force in the Arab states.

2. 2.

   Women constitute 41.5 per cent of the international migrant workers, while men constitute 58.5 per cent. The report adds that women face more economic and non-economic obstacles as migrant workers, and it is likely that they migrate as accompanying family members and not primarily to find work.

3. 3.

   The share of youth (aged 15-24 years) in international migrant workers increased from 8.3 per cent in 2017 to 10 per cent in 2019. The share of older workers (aged 65 and above) reduced from 5.2 per cent to 3.6 per cent during the same time period.

4. 4.

   Of the estimated 169 million international migrant workers, 113.9 million (67.4 per cent) are in high-income countries and 33 million (19.5 per cent) in upper-middle-income countries. The share of migrant workers in high-income countries has declined from 74.7 per cent in 2013 to 67.4 per cent in 2019.

5. 5.

   The report states that 79.9 per cent of women international migrant workers are in services (such as healthcare and domestic work), 14.2 per cent are in industry and 5.9 per cent work in agriculture. Among men migrant workers, 35.6 per cent are employed in industry (such as manufacturing and construction), 56.4 per cent in services and 7.9 per cent of men migrant workers are in agriculture.

6. 6.

   Northern and Southern Europe, Northern America and the Arab States are the three subregions with the majority of migrant workers, with these hosting 60.6 per cent of international migrant workers as of 2019.

   
   

   Focus and Factoids by Muhammad Yusuf Ghazali.