Title: Marge Fauvelle and Ayima Okeeva (UNECE)
1Main results of the UNECE Questionnaire on
International Migration Statistics and
difficult-to-measure migrant groups
- Marge Fauvelle and Ayima Okeeva (UNECE)
2Objectives of the Questionnaire
- To review how national statistical offices (NSOs)
define migrant stocks and migration flows - To build a crosswalk between definitions and
sources used by different countries - To obtain a preliminary glimpse of data quality
from the various sources and for the different
population groups -
- To collect information on practices and
methodologies used to define and estimate
difficult to measure international migrant
groups.
3Structure of the Questionnaire
1. Entire Populations 1a. Stocks of International Migrants Questions for 9 types of data source relating to UNECE definitions of population groups
1. Entire Populations 1b. Flows of International Migrants Immigrants - Data sources duration of stay coverage (legal status) data adjustments/revisions/corrections. Emigrants - Data sources duration of stay coverage (legal status) data adjustments/revisions/corrections Both - Population balancing equation
2. Hard to Measure migrant groups Scope, definitions and methodologies used by countries to measure/estimate
4Participation and Response
Number of countries mailed 58
Number of responses 43 UNECE countries 7 others 50
Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia 8
South-Eastern Europe 5
European Union 25
EFTA 2
Mediterranean 5
America and Oceania 5
58 Definitions of population sub-groups
- Foreign born
- Foreigners
- Descendents
- Persons with foreign background
- Ever international migrants
- Returned citizens
- Members of ethnic groups or
- Other (where respondents were asked to specify
the reference group).
69 Data Sources
- Population Registers
- Foreigners Registers
- Residence/Stay Permits
- Other Administrative Sources
- Last Census
- Next Census
- Household Survey
- Other Household/Sample Survey
- Other Sources
7Frequency/prevalence of data sources
Number of data sources reported by countries Average number of data sources reported by groups of countries
8Immigrant Stocks (i) Most common sources
No.s of countries replying Latest Census Latest Census Future Census Future Census Household Sample Survey Household Sample Survey Residence/stay permits Residence/stay permits Population register Population register
Population groups Exists in 49 countries Exists in 49 countries Exists in 48 countries Exists in 48 countries Exists in 35 countries Exists in 35 countries Exists in 34 countries Exists in 34 countries Exists in 27 countries Exists in 27 countries
Population groups Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup
Foreign born 36 42 33 45 17 26 7 8 18 20
Foreigners 32 40 32 43 15 19 15 23 20 23
Descendents 4 6 8 13 3 7 1 1 2 6
Foreign background 2 5 7 12 1 5 1 2 2 4
Ever intl. migrant 8 14 17 25 1 3 1 1 2 4
Returned 7 14 19 28 2 5 3 7
Ethnic groups 19 28 14 23 3 6 1 2 4 6
Other 2 2 0 2 5
9Immigrant Stocks (ii) Least common sources
Foreigners Register Foreigners Register Other Administrative source Other Administrative source Other Survey Other Survey Other Source Other Source
No.s of countries replying Exists in 19 countries Exists in 19 countries Exists in 15 countries Exists in 15 countries Exists in 12 countries Exists in 12 countries Exists in 7 countries Exists in 7 countries
Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup Defn comply Data ongroup
Foreign born 3 4 3 3 5 9 4 4
Foreigners 8 12 8 10 3 6 5 5
Descendents 2 3 1 1 2 2 1 3
Foreign background 2 3 1 1 2 2 1 3
Ever migrant 0 2 1 4 1 3 0 0
Returned 0 1 1 2 1 2
Ethnic groups 0 0 2 2 0 3 1 1
Other 0 1 2 0
10Immigrant Stocks (iii) Length of stay
11Immigrant Stocks (v) Hard to measure groups
Data Source Irregular Institutionalised Refugee Asylum applicant Schengen Dependent Minor Diplomatic Other
Pop Reg 2 21 17 6 16 19 21 5 5
For Reg 2 10 11 7 7 10 10 4 1
Res Permit 14 17 17 15 19 20 6 3
Other Admin 1 7 7 6 7 8 12 2 1
Last Census 27 38 31 15 8
Next Census 24 40 31 12 9
Hhold Survey 11 4 18 10 19 0
Other Survey 5 2 5 3 5 0
Other Source 1 6 5 2 6 5 5 1 0
12Emigrant StocksWho is using which type of data
source?
Number of countries Which countries?
Population register 9 Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
Census (2000) 8 Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Serbia
Census (2010) 8 Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia
Embassy register 10 Belgium, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey
Police register 3 Egypt (work permit register), Kyrgyzstan (Special card registering migration of population), Russia
Household survey 5 Croatia (LFS), Czech Republic (LFS), Egypt (International Migration Surveys, 1987 1997), Kyrgyzstan (Employment and Unemployment Module), Poland (LFS, EU-SILC),
Other 3 Kyrgyzstan (Survey of household budgets - Section on Migration of Population), Poland (Estimates made by the CSO based on different sources), Spain (If a person included in the Population Register is going to live abroad, we also include this circumstance in that Register)
13Immigrant Flows
Type of data source Number of countries
Population register 20
Other source 7
Residence permits 6
Asylum applicants 6
Police register 5
Foreigner register 4
Visas 3
Other register 3
Border cards 3
LFS 3
Other survey 3
Border sample 1
Other countries 1
14Immigrant and Emigrant Flows
15Conclusions (i)(Part 1 of questionnaire)
- Censuses represent the commonest data source for
migration statistics - Foreign-born and Foreigners are the
definitions most commonly used to identify stocks
of immigrants - But not all countries adhere precisely to the UN
definitions (32/45) and (33/43) respectively
(Future Census). - Household Surveys also have some potential 17/26
countries can adhere to the UN definition for
Foreign-born. - Data on Foreigners are also obtainable in 23
countries from population registers and records
of residence/stay permits. - Length of stay is a determinant for about
two-fifths of countries - Censuses, population registers, surveys and
resident permit records represent a source of
information for certain, but not all hard to
measure groups. - 20 countries use population registers to measure
immigrant population flows - 14 countries are revising or adjusting their
migration data in some way
16Methodologies for estimating Difficult to
Measure International Migrant Groups
17Objectives
- To explore the relevance of difficult to
measure international migrant groups - To identify the group(s) for which the provision
of a statistical count/estimate represents an
issue - To find out whether estimates of difficult to
measure international migrant group(s) are
provided within the framework of official
statistics or by other data providers - To collect information on the methodology
utilized for the estimation.
18Groups considered
- Short-term migrants
- Irregular/undocumented migrants
- Refugees/forced migrants
- Asylum seekers
- Transit migrants
- Circular migrants
- Trafficked migrants
- Minors
19MAIN RESULTS
20Limitations
- Comparability of data
- - Little (or no) access to data
- Definitions
- Particularity of these migrant groups
- Heterogeneous sources
21Relevance of "Difficult to Measure" Migrant
Groups in UNECE Member States
22Challenges in Provision of Statistical Estimates
on Difficult to MeasureMigrant Groups
23Provision of Statistical Estimatesby National
Statistical Offices
24To estimate Difficult to Measure migrant groups
various sources are used by
- NSOs
- Other government agency or local authority
- Research institutes, universities and NGOs
All reported using various sources
25Conclusions (ii)(Difficult to Measure)
- Demonstrated interest of some States
- Existing good country practices
- Administrative sources have some potential
- Existing possibilities to collect and produce
migration statistics on a national level - Willingness of international organizations to
assist and support initiatives on collection and
production of data
26Conclusions (iii)(Overall)
- Some progress has been made in terms of mapping
data availability in UNECE region - Mapping exercise includes a number of
perspectives, stocks and flows immigrant and
emigrant groups length of stay hard to measure
groups and methodological considerations
(coverage/inclusion) - Response to the questionnaire has been excellent,
but parts of some questionnaires incomplete for
institutional reasons. - Some useful metadata provided
- Some inconsistencies noticed in responses (i.e.
minors) - The value of Household surveys for migration
statistics is better defined - The importance of forthcoming Censuses as a data
source migration statistics is overwhelming