According to the UN report, the number of migrants increased by 49 percent compared to 2000, while nearly 26 million migrants (10 percent of the total number) are refugees.

There are more than 258 million international migrants, accounting for 3.4 percent of the global population, and this number continues to grow, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said in a fresh report.

The largest number of migrants — 49.8 million people, or 19 percent of all international migrants — reside in the United States. The number of migrants living in Saudi Arabia, Germany and Russia amounts to nearly 12 million people in each country, while there are approximately 9 million migrants in the United Kingdom.

In 2017, 48.4 percent of all international migrants were women, with the number of female migrants exceeding the number of male migrants in all regions except Africa and Asia. Some three-quarters (74 percent) of all international migrants are of working age, between 20 and 64 years of age, compared to 57 percent of the global population.

As regards migrants’ origin, India tops the list with 17 million international migrants originating from the South Asian country, while Mexico ranks second with 13 million of its nationals residing outside the country’s borders.

Nationals of Russia, China, Bangladesh, Syria, Pakistan and Ukraine also make up a significant portion of international migrants, namely between 6 and 11 million people from each of these countries

Source: Sputnik