How European and U.S. unauthorized immigrant populations compare
The size of Europe’s unauthorized immigrant population in 2017 was less than half the number in the United States.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The size of Europe’s unauthorized immigrant population in 2017 was less than half the number in the United States.
The number of unauthorized immigrants living in Europe increased between 2014 and 2016, then leveled off to an estimated 3.9 million to 4.8 million in 2017, according to new estimates from Pew Research Center.
Most live in Germany, the UK, Italy and France, and about half had arrived in Europe in recent years. Overall, these migrants account for less than 1% of Europe’s total population.
Money sent by immigrants to their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa reached a record $41 billion in 2017.
Many Americans support encouraging high-skilled immigration into the United States. But the U.S. trails other economically advanced nations in its share of immigrants with high skills.
More people sought asylum in Canada in 2017 than at any point in at least a quarter-century. Furthermore, the 50,420 asylum applications Canada received in 2017 were more than double the number in 2016.
The number of Muslim refugees admitted to the U.S. in the first half of fiscal 2018 has dropped from the previous year more than any other religious group.
Remittance flows decreased worldwide for a second consecutive year in 2016, the first back-to-back decline in over three decades. Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, however, rose to a record high.
Nearly 13 million Syrians are displaced after seven years of conflict in their country. No nation in recent decades has had such a large percentage of its population displaced.
About half of those who applied for asylum in Europe during the refugee surge of 2015 and 2016 were still waiting to learn their fate as of the end of last year.
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