Countries with the largest immigrant populations/highest percentages of immigrants in 2020

International migration might be driven by economic, political, environmental, and religious reasons or by war. Many developed countries are facing the impact of an ageing population and low fertility rate, making international migration undoubtedly one of the best strategies to maintain economic growth and to inject new blood into the workforce in these countries. Therefore, countries have been proactive in developing immigration legislation and policies, hoping that immigration policies will benefit national development.

The international migrant stock has risen rapidly in recent years, reaching 280 million people globally in 2020. As shown above, the U.S. has the largest immigrant population at 50.63 million in 2020, followed by Germany (15.76 M), Saudi Arabia (13.45 M), Russia (11.64 M), and Britain (9.36 M). Meanwhile, the UAE is home to the highest percentage of immigrants over the total population (88.1%), followed by Qatar (77.3%), Kuwait (72.8%), Liechtenstein (67.9%), Monaco (67.8%), and other countries. Unsurprisingly, the UAE and Qatar have high percentages of immigrants. To diversify their economies, the governments of both countries strongly support business development and large-scale construction. However, with small populations, the governments have to bring in a large foreign workforce to help with development and construction. Until now, both economies are still highly dependent on the foreign workforce. In contrast, percentages of immigrants seem to be lower in the U.S. (15.3%), Germany (18.8%), Saudi Arabia (38.6%), Russia (8%), and Britain (13.8%). Even so, the United States‘ strong presence in the world today can probably still be attributed to the systematic acquisition of elites in all fields from around the world.

Taiwan also faces the problems of an ageing population and a low fertility rate. Although the wave of immigrants will be coupled with cultural differences and value gaps, if the wave can be captured and capitalized on, there might be a possibility of boosting economic development while addressing the demographic deficit.