Foreword

This publication constitutes the 40th report of the OECD’s Continuous Reporting System on Migration. The report is divided into five chapters plus a statistical annex.

Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of recent trends in international migration flows and migration policies. Chapter 2 takes a close look at the employment situation of immigrants and highlights major changes in policies to support the integration of immigrants and their children.

Chapter 3 looks at the effect of migration on local labour and housing markets, as well as local finances with a view to explain the difference between the public opinion perception of the effect of migration and the results of most studies on the topic, which tend to identify small effects. Chapter 4 discusses how OECD countries can respond to external shocks causing sudden and substantial movements of populations. Focusing on environmental and geopolitical shocks, it presents the lessons learnt from recent shocks and examines alternative pathways and their potential with respect to the current refugee crisis.

Chapter 5 presents succinct country-specific notes and statistics on developments in international migration movements and policies in OECD countries in recent years. Finally, the Statistical Annex includes a broad selection of recent and historical statistics on immigrant flows, the foreign and foreign-born populations and naturalisations.

This year’s edition of the OECD International Migration Outlook is the joint work of staff of the International Migration Division in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. Chapters 1 and 2 are a collective work of the staff of the International Migration Division with contributions from Philippe de Bruycker (Université libre de Bruxelles) (policy section in Chapter 1). Chapter 3 was prepared by Anne-Mareike Vanselow (Consultant to the OECD), Thomas Liebig (OECD) and Ioannis Kaplanis (OECD). Chapter 4 was prepared by Jean-Christophe Dumont (OECD), Richard Black (University of London), Giulia Maria Baldinelli (University of London) and Martin Ruhs (Oxford University). Chapter 5 was prepared with contributions from John Salt (University College London). Jean-Christophe Dumont edited the report. Research assistance and statistical work were carried out by Véronique Gindrey and Philippe Hervé. Editorial assistance was provided by Mireia Sirol Carrillo and Sylviane Yvron. Finally, thanks go to Randy Holden for the editing of Chapters 1 and 5, and to Ken Kincaid for the editing of Chapter 4.

Latvia was not an OECD member at the time of preparation of this publication. Accordingly, Latvia does not appear in the list of OECD members and is not included in the area totals.