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International migrants continue to play a vital role in the global labour market, accounting for 4.7 per cent of the labour force in 2022, according to the latest report by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO).

The ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, indicates that 167.7 million migrants were part of the labour force of their destination countries in 2022. Of these, 102.7 million were men and 64.9 million were women (rounded figures). This represents an increase of more 30 million since 2013, an increase that was mainly observed between 2013-2019.

The majority of migrants in the labour force were concentrated in high-income countries, which accounted for 68.4 per cent of the total (114.7 million people), followed by 17.4 per cent (29.2 million) in upper-middle-income countries.

The majority of migrants in the labour force were concentrated in Northern, Southern, and Western Europe; Northern America; and the Arab States. The share of migrants in the labour force living in Northern, Southern, and Western Europe increased from 22.5 per cent in 2013 to 23.3 per cent in 2022. In contrast, the share of migrants in the labour force of Northern America and the Arab States experienced slight declines.

Of the 167.7 million migrants in the labour force in 2022, 155.6 million were employed, while 12.1 million were unemployed. Significant gender disparities persisted, as migrant women had an employment-to-population ratio of only 48.1 per cent, compared to 72.8 per cent for migrant men.

Migrants faced a higher unemployment rate (7.2 per cent) compared to non-migrants (5.2 per cent), with migrant women (8.7 per cent) experiencing higher unemployment levels than men (6.2 per cent). This disparity may be driven by factors such as language barriers, unrecognized qualifications, discrimination, limited childcare options, and gender-based expectations that restrict employment opportunities, particularly for women.