The vast majority of people remain in their birth country, with few living abroad

Less than 4% of the world's population are international migrants

The vast majority of people in the world — over 96% — live in the country where they were born. Only a small minority are international migrants.

International migrants are people who have lived in a country other than where they were born for more than one year. In contrast, natives live in the country where they were born.

Since 1990, the absolute number of international migrants has risen sharply, but their share of the global population has remained relatively unchanged due to population growth.

This data comes from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

(This Daily Data Insight was written by Simon van Teutem.)