With many regions in OECD countries facing declining working age populations, the geographical dimension of migration has become crucial for regional development. Where migrants settle within countries and how much they contribute to the local economies are important questions for policy makers.

In 2019, 5.3 million new permanent migrants settled in OECD countries, an increase of around a quarter since 2010. Migration is highly concentrated geographically, with more than half of the foreign-born population (53%) living in large metropolitan regions, compared to only 40% of natives. Migration has also increased faster in specific OECD regions such as capitals or regions with more dynamic labour markets. Yet, despite the scale of and the political controversy around the issue, there remains a lack of detailed analysis of the local challenges and opportunities associated with migration. This report presents novel, highly granular data and analysis on migration in regions and cities and sheds new light on the role of migration in regional development.

This chapter analyses the scale and distribution of migration across regions and cities in OECD countries. First, it provides an overview of the geography of migrant populations across large regions. Second, it assesses how the share of migrants has evolved in recent years and examines what type of regions have attracted further migration. Finally, using novel data, the chapter examines migration granularly, eliciting patterns and trends of migration in small regions and different types of areas within OECD countries.

This chapter analyses the labour market integration of migrants across regions in OECD countries. First, it provides an overview of labour market outcomes of migrants across regions and their change over time. Second, it analyses how migrants fare in the labour market compared to the native-born population. Third, it looks at different relevant factors that play a role in explaining different labour market outcomes between native-born and migrant workers, namely the distinction between European Union (EU) and non-EU migrants as well as gender gaps. Finally, it sheds light on the skills migrants can bring to regional economies by analysing the educational attainment of migrants, comparing it between EU migrants, non-EU migrants and the native-born population.

This chapter examines the impact of COVID-19 on migrants across regions and cities, and sheds light on the contribution of migrants to ensure the continuity of essential services during the pandemic. The chapter assesses the health and employment vulnerability of migrants during the pandemic and it presents evidence on the potential capacity of migrant workers to shift to remote working amid lockdowns and social distancing measures. Finally, the chapter analyses the contribution of migrants to local economies as key workers in essential services.

Migrants contribute to many aspects of the economy of their host country. Yet, despite growing evidence at the national level, little is known of these effects at the regional scale. This chapter aims to fill this gap by providing novel empirical evidence on the contribution of migrants to regional economies across the OECD using microdata and econometric methods, focusing in particular on critical dimensions of regional development such as income, innovation, international trade and labour markets.