This publication constitutes the 42nd report of the OECD’s Continuous Reporting System on Migration. The report is divided into five chapters plus a statistical annex.
Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of recent trends in international migration flows and policies. Chapter 2 takes an in-depth look at the employment situation of immigrants and highlights major changes in policies that support the integration of immigrants and their children.
Chapter 3 examines the labour market impact of recent refugee inflows to European countries, drawing lessons from past experience and looking beyond the most recent developments to account for the ongoing process of refugee labour market entry. It offers a rigorous assessment of the potential impact of recent refugee inflows on the working-age population and labour force of European countries up to 2020, taking into account the specificity of refugees and their interactions with the labour market. While such an exercise does not provide a definitive response to the hopes or concerns regarding the labour market impact of refugees, it will at minimum help to frame expectations.
Chapter 4 focuses on the issue of illegal employment of foreign workers, looking at the various forms of irregularities and infractions that it may entail, as well as its relationship to informal employment. The chapter also provides some evidence on the scope and characteristics of the phenomenon across OECD countries. Given, however, the scarcity of data in this field, precise quantification remains challenging. Therefore, most of the chapter is focused on policy measures implemented by OECD countries to prevent, control and sanction the illegal employment of foreign workers, information which was obtained from a short questionnaire addressed to OECD member countries. More general policy measures for reducing informal employment and irregular migration are also discussed.
Chapter 5 presents succinct country-specific notes and statistics on developments in international migration movements and policies in OECD countries in recent years. Lastly, the Statistical Annex includes a broad selection of recent and historical statistics on immigrant flows; asylum requests; foreign and foreign-born populations; and naturalisations.
This year’s edition of the OECD International Migration Outlook is the collective work of the staff of the International Migration Division in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Chapters 1 and 5 contain contributions from John Salt (University College London). Chapter 3 was prepared by Gilles Spielvogel (OECD) and Chapter 4 by Sandrine Cazes (OECD). Jean‑Christophe Dumont edited the report. Research assistance and statistical work were carried out by Véronique Gindrey and Philippe Hervé. Editorial assistance was provided by Joanne Dundon and Anna Tarutina (OECD), and by Ken Kincaid specifically on Chapter 4.