From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 59 minutes ago, updated 27 minutes ago
A global dynamic that is “related to the fact that many OECD countries are suffering from labor shortages,” says the international organization. STRINGER / AFP
The organization reports unprecedented migration flows “for at least 15 years.” This is the case in France, where 301,000 people arrived in the same year.
Workers, foreign students, asylum seekers… whatever the indicators, there are records everywhere. Permanent immigration to OECD countries reached historic levels last year, with six million people entering to partially fill “labour shortages”.
With 6.1 million “new permanent immigrants,” a 26% increase from last year, “immigration in OECD countries will reach unprecedented levels in 2022,” said the Organization for Economic Cooperation report released Monday and development. To these figures must be added the 4.7 million displaced Ukrainians registered in the 38 OECD member countries in June 2023.
Despite these record flows, “the majority of immigration is regulated and controlled,” starting with that of workers, says Jean-Christophe Dumont, who heads the OECD’s migration department. “Immigration is a socio-economic phenomenon like any other that must be managed,” the economist continues, citing as an example France, where labor immigration amounted to 54,000 people in 2022, “a level never reached since the 1960s. “
Last year, more than one in three countries recorded flows “not seen for at least 15 years,” including France (301,000 people), Spain (471,000) or Belgium (122,000), while several others such as the United Kingdom (521,000). ) and Canada (437,000) broke all records, according to data compiled in the document.
In detail, the number of asylum applications has exploded, according to the OECD, where two million new applications were made in 2022, “the highest number ever recorded”. This is twice as much as in the previous year and significantly higher than in 2015-2016, when the conflict in Syria triggered a wave of refugees to Europe.
Historical employment rate
A peak largely linked to the situation in the United States, where 730,000 applications were recorded, compared to 190,000 in 2021. This country alone welcomed 1.05 million new permanent immigrants last year. The number of international student admissions also reached a record level and amounted to almost two million people, almost twice as many as the previous year.
This global dynamic is “related to the fact that there are labor shortages in many OECD countries,” the organization explains in its report. Especially since these flows “are accompanied by an improvement in the conditions for integration into the labor market,” continues Jean-Christophe Dumont.
This means that the immigrant employment rate has reached “the highest level ever observed in all OECD countries”, although France is among the worst performers with a rate of 61% (compared to 72% on average), the report says . “Regulated immigration of foreign workers,” the document emphasizes, accounts for 21% of total flows and now represents the same share as people migrating for humanitarian reasons.
A share that is all the more significant since the increase in family immigration, which remains the main category with four out of ten entries, is mainly due “to families accompanying migrant workers,” observes the OECD. According to the organization, nearly 80% of immigrants were “active” last year, including 70% employed and less than 8% unemployed.
All of this data does not take into account temporary workers, such as seasonal workers. A category that also saw “a sharp increase.” For all indicators, the OECD expects preliminary data for 2023 to already indicate “a further increase”.
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