According to new research from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), migration to wealthy nations decreased by more than one-fifth last year as labor markets weakened and visa requirements were tightened in countries like Australia and the United Kingdom.
Work-related migration decreased between 2023 and 2024, according to data from the Paris-based organization, which is made up of 38 wealthy and emerging economies, even before Donald Trump’s White House-return led to a decline in arrivals into the United States.
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Following the global COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people admitted for permanent work in the OECD decreased by roughly 934, 000 last year, after a steady growth for several years.
Net migration decreased by more than 40% in 2024, partly as a result of visa policy tightening, which is most evident in the UK. However, labor migration decreased in most European Union countries even where there hasn’t been a change in policy stance.
The OECD’s international migration division leader, Jean-Christophe Dumont, believes that the global economic situation is “less favourable” because of the downturn.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for 2025’s global growth by 0.5%, citing President Donald Trump’s trade war as a limiting factor.
Other nations, which had traditionally been among the biggest migrants’ recipients, have since tightened immigration regulations. Measures to limit work-related migration have been introduced by Canada, Australia, and the UK over the past two years.
Dumont also noted that a sizable number of Ukrainians who were granted temporary protection in Europe had reduced the demand for foreign workers by a large number, reducing labor shortages in a number of fields.
An estimated 5.1 million Ukrainians who fled their country in 2022  are currently residing in OECD member states as of June 2025, according to the most recent data from the organization.
What about other migrations?
Between 2023 and 2024, the OECD reported a 13% decrease in the number of new international students entering the group. Important factors were factors in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia’s tighter visa regulations, which were prompted by concerns about immigration fraud and the pressure on local housing markets.
In contrast, humanitarian migration has increased. In the US, asylum applications increased significantly in the last few months of the Biden administration, and there has recently been a significant rise in illegal small-boat arrivals from EU nations.
These increases indicate that, despite the decline in student and labor migration, total permanent migration to developed economies in 2024 decreased only marginally, by 4 percent, from its peak in the previous year.
The 6.2 million OECD newcomers added in 2024 outnumber pre-pandemic levels by about 15%, though. At 2.3 million, temporary labor mobility, which entails visas that prevent permanent settlement, remained constant. This is still higher than the 2019 level.
What changes have there been in migration rates?
In OECD nations, 6.5 million people re-established themselves in 2023, a record number. The UK saw the biggest increase of almost 10% over the previous six million-person move in 2022, which was almost 10% more than the previous record of six million.
In 2023, Canada, France, and Japan were the only OECD member states with record-setting immigration rates. Donald Trump’s campaign focused on reducing immigration after receiving 1.2 million permanent legal immigrants.
In spite of the political debate, research from investment bank Goldman Sachs found that in the US, more than four million jobs were created in the country in the next three decades: from Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, and the UK.
What lies ahead?
Dumont predicted that despite stricter US immigration laws, the overall immigration to the OECD nations might ease slightly in 2025. He added that migrants’ employment rates remain stable on the labor markets.
For instance, in the UK, the employment rate for people who were born there was approximately 76%, which is slightly higher than the rate for those who were born there.
He attributed this to visa programs intended for higher-skilled positions and to the fact that low-skilled immigrants were willingly “filling gaps” in jobs that UK citizens do not want.
We need to reevaluate some of the issues surrounding native labor shortages in industries like agriculture, construction, and health, according to Fabiola Mieres, a senior immigration specialist at the International Labour Organization.
The story is obviously centered on minimum wages and working conditions.
She continued, “Immigration will likely continue to play a significant role in electoral politics around the world, particularly in Europe and the US.” There are a lot of heated emotions there.
Describe the OECD.
Following World War II, the OECD was established in 1948 to coordinate the US Marshall Plan’s reconstruction of Western Europe. It also facilitated the removal of trade barriers between its European members at the time.
As reconstruction in Europe was about to come to an end, member states began looking for a more global framework for economic cooperation by the late 1950s. The US and Canada were added to the OECD’s membership in 1961.
The OECD expanded its membership over the course of the years to include nations from Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, as a result of its transition from a transatlantic body to a more diverse and developing community.
By the late 20th century, the OECD had established itself as a hub for economic analysis, policy analysis, and the creation of governance standards. It gained acclaim for its education, labor markets, and environmental policy research that was widely recognized.
To end decades of tax competition between governments attempting to attract foreign investment, the OECD spearheaded a proposal to tax large multinational corporations at least 15%.
