The Countries With The Highest Share Of International Migrants May Surprise You

The number of international migrants worldwide hit 304 million in 2024, a figure that has doubled since 1990.

As people relocate across borders for reasons ranging from work opportunities to conflict and displacement, certain countries have become major destinations for foreign-born populations.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the top 20 countries with the highest proportion of international migrants in their populations as of 2024, based on data from the United Nations.

An international migrant is defined as someone living in a country other than their birth country for at least 12 months, regardless of reasons or status.

Which Country Has the Highest Share of International Migrants?

Below, we show countries by share of international migrants in their population.

Rank	Country	Share (%) of international migrants in total population (2024)
1	Qatar	76.7
2	United Arab Emirates	74.0
3	Monaco	70.2
4	Liechtenstein	69.4
5	Kuwait	67.3
6	Andorra	59.1
7	Bahrain	52.3
8	Luxembourg	51.2
9	Singapore	48.7
10	Jordan	45.7
11	Oman	43.2
12	Saudi Arabia	40.3
13	Malta	37.0
14	Antigua and Barbuda	32.5
15	Switzerland	31.1
16	Australia	30.4
17	Palau	29.5
18	New Zealand	28.2
19	Brunei	25.9
20	Austria	25.5
21	Iceland	25.1
22	Lebanon	24.5
23	Micronesia	23.4
24	Ireland	23.1
25	Israel	22.3
26	Canada	22.2
27	Sweden	21.4
28	Nauru	21.3
29	Belgium	20.0
30	Germany	19.8
31	Spain	18.5
32	Norway	18.2
33	Gabon	17.7
34	San Marino	17.4
35	United Kingdom	17.1
36	Saint Kitts and Nevis	17.0
37	Bahamas	16.8
38	Belize	16.5
39	Netherlands	16.2
40	United States	15.2
41	Cyprus	14.9
42	Estonia	14.9
43	Slovenia	14.9
44	Montenegro	14.4
45	Denmark	14.2
46	Greece	14.2
47	Maldives	14.2
48	France	13.8
49	Croatia	13.6
50	Ukraine	13.4
51	Equatorial Guinea	13.2
52	Dominica	12.7
53	Barbados	12.5
54	Costa Rica	12.2
55	Libya	12.2
56	Latvia	11.8
57	Belarus	11.6
58	Italy	11.0
59	Djibouti	10.8
60	Portugal	10.8
61	Malaysia	10.7
62	Panama	10.6
63	Serbia	10.6
64	Seychelles	10.2
65	Kazakhstan	10.1
66	Czechia	9.5
67	Saint Helena	9.4
68	Armenia	9.2
69	Finland	9.2
70	Côte d’Ivoire	9.0
71	Marshall Islands	8.8
72	Gambia	8.6
73	North Macedonia	8.3
74	Suriname	8.2
75	Türkiye	8.1
76	Chile	7.8
77	South Sudan	7.7
78	Trinidad and Tobago	7.5
79	Hungary	7.1
80	Bhutan	7.0
81	Dominican Republic	6.5
82	Guyana	6.5
83	Chad	6.3
84	Grenada	6.3
85	Moldova	6.2
86	Congo	6.1
87	Lithuania	6.1
88	Slovakia	5.9
89	Colombia	5.8
90	Peru	5.4
91	Russia	5.3
92	State of Palestine	5.0
93	Saint Vincent and Grenadines	4.8
94	Sudan	4.8
95	Uruguay	4.7
96	Botswana	4.6
97	Poland	4.5
98	Saint Lucia	4.5
99	Bulgaria	4.4
100	Thailand	4.4
101	Venezuela	4.4
102	Argentina	4.3
103	Iran	4.2
104	Ecuador	4.1
105	South Africa	4.1
106	Uganda	4.1
107	Mauritania	3.8
108	Namibia	3.8
109	Rwanda	3.6
110	Syria	3.6
111	South Korea	3.5
112	Romania	3.4
113	Tonga	3.4
114	Uzbekistan	3.2
115	Burkina Faso	3.1
116	Cabo Verde	3.1
117	Togo	3.0
118	Benin	2.9
119	Burundi	2.8
120	Japan	2.8
121	Eswatini	2.7
122	Kyrgyzstan	2.7
123	Paraguay	2.6
124	Tajikistan	2.6
125	Turkmenistan	2.6
126	Tuvalu	2.6
127	Zimbabwe	2.6
128	Kiribati	2.5
129	Mauritius	2.3
130	Cameroon	2.2
131	Mali	2.2
132	Azerbaijan	2.1
133	Georgia	2.1
134	Angola	1.8
135	Central African Republic	1.8
136	Kenya	1.8
137	Samoa	1.8
138	Albania	1.7
139	Bangladesh	1.7
140	Niger	1.7
141	Pakistan	1.7
142	Nepal	1.6
143	Bolivia	1.5
144	Fiji	1.5
145	Ghana	1.5
146	Senegal	1.5
147	Comoros	1.4
148	Liberia	1.3
149	Mexico	1.3
150	Zambia	1.2
151	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.1
152	DR Congo	1.0
153	Egypt	1.0
154	Mozambique	1.0
155	Vanuatu	1.0
156	Yemen	1.0
157	Ethiopia	0.9
158	Malawi	0.9
159	Guinea	0.8
160	Iraq	0.8
161	Jamaica	0.8
162	Sao Tome and Principe	0.8
163	Brazil	0.7
164	El Salvador	0.7
165	Guinea-Bissau	0.7
166	Laos	0.7
167	Tanzania	0.7
168	Algeria	0.6
169	Lesotho	0.6
170	Mongolia	0.6
171	Nicaragua	0.6
172	Nigeria	0.6
173	Sierra Leone	0.6
174	Timor-Leste	0.6
175	Cambodia	0.5
176	Guatemala	0.5
177	Tunisia	0.5
178	Eritrea	0.4
179	Honduras	0.4
180	Somalia	0.4
181	India	0.3
182	Morocco	0.3
183	Papua New Guinea	0.3
184	Solomon Islands	0.3
185	Vietnam	0.3
186	Afghanistan	0.2
187	North Korea	0.2
188	Haiti	0.2
189	Indonesia	0.2
190	Sri Lanka	0.2
191	China	0.1
192	Madagascar	0.1
193	Myanmar	0.1
194	Philippines	0.1
195	Cuba	0.0

In 2024, Qatar had the world’s highest share of foreign-born residents, with international migrants making up over three-quarters (76.7%) of its population.

Several Gulf states like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait ranked at the top of the list, as their economies rely heavily on foreign labor, with migrants making up an overwhelming majority of their workforces.

These countries host higher proportions of international migrants largely due to the kafala system—a sponsorship-based labor framework that ties foreign workers to their employers—drawing million of people for low-wage jobs.

Several small European countries such as Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Andorra also have high shares of migrants, largely due to their small populations and roles as financial or tourism hubs.

U.S. is Still Home to the Most Migrants

By total population, the U.S. recorded the highest number of international migrants in 2024 at 52.4 million.

Mexico to the U.S. was the busiest migrant corridor in the world by far in 2024, with over 10 million people born in Mexico now residing in the United States.

Europe hosted more international migrants than any other region with 94 million in 2024, followed by Northern America—which includes the U.S., Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, and St. Pierre and Miquelon—at 61 million.

These two regions have long been top destinations for immigration over the past few decades.

To learn more about international migratoin, check out this graphic that visualized international migration flows to each U.S. state.