Migration flows which reach “record levels” for the second year in a row, but which “are not out of control”. The OECD published this Thursday, November 14, its annual report on “international migration prospects”, aiming to provide an “analysis of recent developments in migratory movements and the integration of immigrants”. And one of the main conclusions is quite clear: immigrants who meet a need for labor have never been so well integrated into the labor market.
In 2023, the 38 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries recorded 6.5 million new “permanent” immigrants (including people with a residence permit and European nationals), i.e. increase of 10% compared to 2022, an already unprecedented year.
The United States, whose new president-elect Donald Trump has promised mass expulsions, remains the leading destination country with 1.2 million new legal permanent residents, the highest level since 2006. Nearly a third of countries of the OECD experienced record levels of immigration, in particular the United Kingdom (747,000), but also Canada (472,000), France (298,000), Japan (155 000) and Switzerland (144,500). On the other hand, immigration has fallen in another third of the countries in the region, notably in Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania and New Zealand.
Most of the increase is due to family migration (+16%), which represents 43% of total entries. But humanitarian immigration (+ 20%) is also on the rise, notes the OECD. Labor migration has remained stable. However, the integration of immigrants into the labor market continues to reach unprecedented levels.
Few unemployed
The upward trend in post-pandemic immigrant employment continued in 2023, with the OECD recording “overall historically high employment levels” at 71.8%. The highest employment rate is in New Zealand (82.3%) while it reaches 62.4% in France.
At the same time, unemployment levels among immigrant populations are low (7.3%). “They are today only slightly more likely to find themselves long-term unemployed than their native-born counterparts,” notes the international organization. Canada (75.8%), the United Kingdom (76.3%) and the United States (73.3%), as well as all 27 EU countries, recorded “the highest rates of ‘highest immigrant employment ever recorded’.
“The strong demand for labor in host countries has been one of the main drivers of migration over the past two years,” explains the director of employment and labor at the OECD Stefano Scarpetta. “In many OECD countries facing widespread labor shortages and looming demographic changes, increasing numbers of migrant workers have contributed to sustained economic growth,” he continues.
“A delicate balance”
The weight of immigrants among entrepreneurs has also increased considerably in OECD countries over the last fifteen years. In 2022, 17% of self-employed workers were on average migrants, compared to 11% in 2006, notes the report. However, entrepreneurship is more often “a necessity” due to lack of access to salaried employment, rather than an “opportunity”, lamented the Secretary General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, at a press conference. “We must ensure that migrants are integrated, that their skills are recognized to maximize their positive impact in our economies,” added Stefano Scarpetta.
“Public debate about the impact of migration on the labor market generally revolves around competition for jobs between immigrants and native-born workers. Yet immigrants are not only competing workers, but also employers”, summarizes the report.
Aware that these “significant flows have caused widespread concern” and have notably involved a “strong demand for reception infrastructure”, the OECD considers that the management of migration “increasingly requires a delicate balance”. In addition to tightening asylum laws, some countries have also started to impose restrictions on other legal immigration routes to ease pressure on the housing market and public services. The subject being, in this matter, to “find a balance between restriction and attraction, in order to remain competitive destinations for foreign workers and international students”.