In the 3 years to March 2021, black households were most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of under £600.

75% of households from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were in the 2 lowest income quintiles (after housing costs were deducted) between April 2021 and March 2024.

In 2019, people from most ethnic minority groups were more likely than White British people to live in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2023, closely followed by Romanians. After years of losing its foreign population, Spain’s immigration figures started to pick up in 2015, with the number of people that moved to the Mediterranean country surpassing the number of foreigners that decided to leave.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukranians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

The largest number of immigrants in Germany were from Ukraine, as of 2023. The top three origin countries were rounded up by Romania and Turkey. Immigrants are defined as having left a country, which may be their home country, to permanently reside in another. Upon arriving, immigrants do not hold the citizenship of the country they move to. Immigration in the EU All three aforementioned countries are members of the European Union, which means their citizens have freedom of movement between EU member states. In practice, this means that citizens of any EU member country may relocate between them to live and work there. Unrestricted by visas or residence permits, the search for university courses, jobs, retirement options, and places to live seems to be defined by an enormous amount of choice. However, even in this freedom of movement scheme, immigration may be hampered by bureaucratic hurdles or financial challenges. Prosperity with a question mark While Germany continues to be an attractive destination for foreigners both in and outside the European Union, as well as asylum applicants, it remains to be seen how current events might influence these patterns, whether the number of immigrants arriving from certain countries will shift. Europe’s largest economy is suffering. Climbing inflation levels in the last few months, as well as remaining difficulties from the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are affecting global economic development. Ultimately, future immigrants may face the fact of moving from one struggling economy to another.

The French constitute a significant and growing migrant population in the UK, and in particular, London. With a notable concentration employed in highly-skilled occupations, they have been overlooked in migration research which tends to focus on more marginalised and disadvantaged migrant labour. This project will explore the migratory, occupational and settlement careers of highly-skilled French professionals working in London’s financial and business sectors, and contribute to our understanding of their economic, social and cultural role. In examining the interplay of factors shaping migration, occupation and settlement decision-making in this context, the project will inform our understanding of the dynamics of intra-European mobility amongst the highly skilled, and of its policy implications at local, regional, national and EU levels. The study is informed by a qualitative methodology, in the form of semi-structured interviews and focus groups, designed to capture the rich personal narratives of this migrant population’s experiences. The data aims to capture the complexity and diversity of this population through the incorporation of variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, length of residence in London, employment status and family circumstances. In depth semi-structured interviews and a focus group

The research sought to contribute to a gender-sensitive understanding of the interaction between economic and socio-cultural drivers of labour migrations in different cities: Erbil in Kurdistan-Iraq; Beirut in Lebanon; Islamabad in Pakistan; and Istanbul in Turkey. While migration remains a key issue globally, relatively little work has been done on gender migrations in the Global South, and what has been done has largely focussed on domestic and care work, without including higher-skilled migrants.

The project addresses this gap by interviewing approximately 25 women and NGO workers in each city and was designed to go beyond domestic work by looking at a range of labour sectors where women play active roles. In doing so, this research contributes to a better understanding of, the global circulation of gendered labour that is occurring, the drivers of this movement, women’s rights and agency, and how migrant women use urban spaces, within these contexts.

This project was designed with specific attention to researcher power dynamics. It was conducted with (not on) researchers in the Global South, thus aiming to produce knowledge from the South rather than to impose knowledge from the North. The multi-context project design also brings forward a rich comparative analysis of societies in South Asia and the Middle East – going beyond one country and nation-state borders.

Key findings of the project are:

• Gendered migrations in the Middle East and South Asia are diverse In terms of educational level, occupations, nationalities and rights and include migrant women from the Global South and North.

• Discriminatory practices in home countries inform migration. In each of the four countries there were discriminatory practices and patriarchal norms in their home countries that influenced the women’s migration (e.g., sexual violence, domestic violence, discriminatory employment practices because they are women, discrimination against their SOGIE identity, no legal rights to divorce).

• Women are treated differently based on their race, country of origin, and social capital within a given context. Women from diverse backgrounds faced distinct forms of discrimination based on their intersectional identities. For example, in Turkey, cultural capital is important. Women from North America, in particular those who were educated with university degrees were often able to find good work as teachers, journalists, or translators. In contrast, the women interviewed from the former Soviet Union, who were also educated, went through a process of de-skilling after migration – now working as cleaners or live-in carers. This happens in-part because they have less cultural capital in the Turkish context.

• Education levels amongst the women were high, but the value placed on that education once in the country of migration was mixed. Despite relatively high levels of education, many of the women still faced significant hurdles in finding commensurate employment opportunities.

• Women’s agency can be both amplified and strained in migration contexts. Most women showed agency in their choice to migrate away from their home countries and in their efforts to improve their life conditions. However, women's agency in these contexts was strained by structural inequalities and violence that inhibited and moulded their ability to participate in the labour market. For example, two of the Syrian women interviewed in Lebanon described how they ended up in sex work, despite this not being their choice or aspiration.

• Personal networks based on nationality play a key role in women’s lives. Interviews revealed that rather than relying on formal trade unions or collective forms of organising, many women used personal networks based on nationality to build community and advance their working conditions and livelihoods.

• Recruitment agencies have a lot of control and power. Recruitment agencies also shape who migrates because they have bilateral agreements with agencies in countries of origin. They can influence and shape the flow of who and under what conditions migrants are allowed to enter the country. This is particularly the case in Lebanon where they blocked changes to the Kafala system

70% of White British households owned their own homes – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups.

In 2024, gross domestic product per capita in the United Kingdom was 37,044 British pounds, compared with 37,033 pounds in the previous year. In general, while GDP per capita has grown quite consistently throughout this period, there are noticeable declines, especially between 2007 and 2009, and between 2019 and 2020, due to the Global Financial Crisis, and COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. Why is GDP per capita stagnating when the economy is growing? During the last two years that GDP per capita fell and then stagnated in the UK, the overall economy grew by 0.4 percent in 2023 and 1.1 percent in 2024. While the overall UK economy is therefore larger than it was in 2022, the UK's population has grown at a faster rate, resulting in the lower GDP per capita figure. The long-term slump in the UK's productivity, as measured by output per hour worked, has meant that the gap between GDP growth and GDP per capita growth has been widening for some time. Economy remains the main concern of UK voters As of February 2025, the economy was seen as the main issue facing the UK, just ahead of immigration, health, and several other problems in the country. While Brexit was seen as the most important issue before COVID-19, and concerns about health were dominant throughout 2020 and 2021, the economy has generally been the primary facing voters issue since 2022. The surge in inflation throughout 2022 and 2023, and the impact this had on wages and living standards, resulted in a very tough period for UK households. As of January 2025, 57 percent of households were still noticing rising living costs, although this is down from a peak of 91 percent in August 2022.

Among countries with the highest number of overseas Chinese on each continent, the largest Chinese diaspora community is living in Indonesia, numbering more than ten million people. Most of these people are descendants from migrants born in China, who have moved to Indonesia a long time ago. On the contrary, a large part of overseas Chinese living in Canada and Australia have arrived in these countries only during the last two decades. China as an emigration country Many Chinese people have emigrated from their home country in search of better living conditions and educational chances. The increasing number of Chinese emigrants has benefited from loosened migration policies. On the one hand, the attitude of the Chinese government towards emigration has changed significantly. Overseas Chinese are considered to be strong supporters for the overall strength of Chinese culture and international influence. On the other hand, migration policies in the United States and Canada are changing with time, expanding migration opportunities for non-European immigrants. As a result, China has become one of the world’s largest emigration countries as well as the country with the highest outflows of high net worth individuals. However, the mass emigration is causing a severe loss of homegrown talents and assets. The problem of talent and wealth outflow has raised pressing questions to the Chinese government, and a solution to this issue is yet to be determined. Popular destinations among Chinese emigrants Over the last decades, English speaking developed countries have been popular destinations for Chinese emigrants. In 2022 alone, the number of people from China naturalized as U.S. citizens had amounted to over 27,000 people, while nearly 68,000 had obtained legal permanent resident status as “green card” recipients. Among other popular immigration destinations for Chinese riches are Canada, Australia, Europe, and Singapore.

In 2024, Turkey was the country that hosted the highest amount of Syrian refugees, amounting up to 3.1 million refugees. Lebanon was second, hosting 775,000 Syrian refugees. The data refers to the total number of Syrian refugees in a given country, not considering the date of their application for asylum or the date of their flight.