Legal migration to the world’s wealthiest nations reached unprecedented levels in 2023. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), approximately 6.5 million people migrated through permanent legal routes to its 38 member countries last year, a nearly 10% increase from 2022’s 6 million.
The data comes as the debate surrounding migrants escalates, fueling right-wing gains in elections in many countries. Experts argue that the rhetorical arguments often overlook how cross-border movements contribute to economic expansion and job creation. Immigrants also played a crucial role in helping rich nations recover more swiftly from the inflationary pressures caused by Covid-19.
Legal migration is seen as both “an engine of economic growth and as a driver of political division,” says Andrew Geddes, professor of Migration Studies and Director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute. “Down the road, the rise of anti-immigration political forces in key destination countries, including most obviously the United States, is likely to mean narrower paths for legal migration, sparking more friction both within and between nations.” The US led in 2023 with 1.2 million new legal immigrants, followed by the UK, with 750,000. Around a third of OECD nations also experienced their highest-ever immigration figures.
For decades, immigration to OECD member countries has followed a steadily upward trend, says Hein de Haas, professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, founding member of the International Migration Institute, and author of How Migration Really Works.
Apart from refugee influxes, surges have been mainly driven by labor shortages for low- and higher-skilled workers, de Haas argues. In the post-Covid “labor crunch,” such shortages reached new highs, and so did immigration levels. “The main dilemma governments therefore face is that it is impossible to reconcile the growing demand for labor, the need for business lobbies to open more legal migrant channels, and to turn a blind eye towards the widespread employment and exploitation of undocumented migrants, while at the same time satisfying public demands for less, or more controlled, immigration.” In other words, de Haas says, “governments can’t have their cake and eat it too.”
