Abstract

Statistics on international labour migration are among the most challenging data to produce. International migrant workers represent a small share of the population and comprise a wide diversity of groups. Often, migrant workers are also part of what is known as “elusive populations”, making it not only difficult to define statistically but also difficult to capture in data collections not specifically designed for this purpose. Regular data sources including population censuses, household surveys and administrative records usually provide only a partial picture of international labour migration in a given country. As international migration becomes more integrated as a catalyst for development in global accords including the UN Global Compact on Migration, the SDG 2030 agenda, and the ILO Fair Migration Agenda, the need for comprehensive, reliable and regular statistics on the different groups of migrant workers has become more pressing to ensure the development benefits of international labour migration are shared by all -workers, employers and governments in countries of origin and destination.
Following the adoption in 2018 of new Guidelines on statistics of international labour migration by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians, the ILO in collaboration with partner countries and agencies, has launched a number of initiatives at global, regional and country level to improve the availability of statistics on international migrant workers. This session aims at showcasing some of the good practices and progress achieved to date, from enhancing global guidance and data availability, to assessing the quality of the existing sources, exploring adjustments to improve them, harnessing available data, and integrating the SDG commitments on fair migration in official statistics.
The session is also meant to provide cases and approaches of successful measurement of international labour migration, so that more National Statistical Offices can use those examples to shed light on the relevance, situation and contributions of international migrant workers, worldwide.