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.

As of 2022, the European country with the most citizens of the People's Republic of China was Italy, with around 300,000 people. Spain also hosted a substantial number of Chinese nationals at roughly 193,000 people. These figures are likely to underestimate the number of people who were born in China or are of Chinese ancestry, as many of these immigrants receive the citizenship of the European country which they migrated to after living there for a period of time, and the People's Republic of China does not allow its citizens to hold dual citizenship.

Among the total migrant stock worldwide, i.e. the total number of people living outside their country of origin, the highest number came from India, with nearly 18 million as of 2020. This is relatively unsurprising as it is also the most populous country in the world. Mexico, Russia, and China followed on the places behind. There are varying reasons for people to emigrate from their country of origin, from poverty and unemployment to war and persecution.

This statistic shows the estimated Asian immigrant population of Hong Kong in 2024, by country or region of origin. In 2024, there were nearly 2.5 million Chinese immigrants in Hong Kong.

Migrants from the United Kingdom have long been Australia’s primary immigrant group and in 2023 there were roughly 960 thousand English-born people living in Australia. India and China held second and third place respectively with regard to Australia’s foreign-born population. The relative dominance of Asian countries in the list of top ten foreign-born residents of Australia represents a significant shift in Australia’s immigration patterns over the past few decades. Where European-born migrants had previously overshadowed other migrant groups, Australian migration figures are now showing greater migration numbers from neighboring countries in Asia and the Pacific. A history of migration Australia is often referred to as an ‘immigrant nation’, alongside the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Before the Second World War, migrants to Australia were almost exclusively from the UK, however after 1945, Australia’s immigration policy was broadened to attract economic migrants and temporary skilled migrants. These policy changes saw and increase in immigrants particularly from Greece and Italy. Today, Australia maintains its status as an ‘’Immigrant nation’’, with almost 30 percent of the population born overseas and around 50 percent of the population having both that were born overseas. Australian visas The Australian immigration program has two main categories of visa, permanent and temporary. The permanent visa category offers three primary pathways: skilled, family and humanitarian. The skilled visa category is by far the most common, with more than a million permanent migrants living in Australia on this visa category at the last Australian census in 2021. Of the temporary visa categories, the higher education visa is the most popular, exceeding 180 thousand arrivals in 2023.

The United States hosted, by far, the highest number of immigrants in the world in 2020. That year, there were over 50 million people born outside of the States residing in the country. Germany and Saudi Arabia followed behind at around 16 and 13 million, respectively. There are varying reasons for people to emigrate from their country of origin, from poverty and unemployment to war and persecution. American Migration People migrate to the United States for a variety of reasons, from job and educational opportunities to family reunification. Overall, in 2021, most people that became legal residents of the United States did so for family reunification purposes, totaling 385,396 people that year. An additional 193,338 people became legal residents through employment opportunities. In terms of naturalized citizenship, 113,269 people from Mexico became naturalized American citizens in 2021, followed by people from India, the Philippines, Cuba, and China. German Migration Behind the United States, Germany also has a significant migrant population. Migration to Germany increased during the mid-2010's, in light of the Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis, and during the 2020’s, in light of conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine. Moreover, as German society continues to age, there are less workers in the labor market. In a low-migration scenario, Germany will have 37.2 million skilled workers by 2040, compared to 39.1 million by 2040 in a high-migration scenario. In both scenarios, this is still a decrease from 43.5 skilled workers in 2020.

This statistic shows the estimated Asian immigrant population of South Africa in 2015, by country of origin. In 2015, there were 25,180 Chinese immigrants in South Africa.

In 2019 there were 272,436 immigrants from the United Kingdom living in New Zealand. The second largest migrant group in the country were Chinese immigrants, with a population of around 95 thousand people.

According to an estimate, there were almost 785 thousand immigrants from China living in Japan in 2019. Chinese were followed by South Koreans with an immigrant stock of more than 475 thousand people.

In 2020, Malaysians made up the largest share of Asian immigrants in Singapore, with around 1.13 million people. In that year, close to 43 percent of the Singapore population were immigrants. This includes both the non-resident population as well as permanent residents, students, and work pass holders.

With nearly 49,000 living in Denmark as of January 1, 2024, most immigrants were from Poland. The second and third largest groups of immigrants were from Ukraine and Romania, amounting to roughly 41,000 and 40,000 people, respectively. Tightening immigration policies Like many European countries, Denmark experienced a heightened influx of immigrants in 2015. In the wake of the refugee situation, however, the number of immigrants, notably asylum seekers, declined in part due to sharpened immigration policies. In 2015, over 21,000 refugees applied for asylum in Denmark, whereas applications fell below 5,000 in 2022. Residence permits Among the different types of residence permits, permits granted based on asylum were the least delivered type of permit. Only 1,400 people were granted asylum in Denmark in 2022. The highest number of asylum seekers came from Ukraine, even when excluding Ukrainians arriving via the temporary protection act. In 2022, Denmark registered around 2,000 applications from Ukrainians.

As of October 2024, the United States had nearly 413,400 Japanese citizens, making it the country with the highest number of Japanese residents outside of Japan itself. The United States counted around four times as many Japanese citizens as second-placed Australia.  Japanese immigrants in the United States Lately, there has been an increase in the migration of Japanese individuals, especially to the United States, which has the largest immigrant population worldwide. This surge in Japanese migration to the United States can largely be attributed to the substantial presence of Japanese companies with offices in the country, which ranks among the highest globally. Consequently, many Japanese nationals choose to relocate to the United States in pursuit of employment opportunities offered by these companies.  Status of immigrants in Japan The total number of foreign residents in Japan has been rising lately, with Tokyo having the highest number of foreign nationals registered among 47 prefectures. The main nationality of foreign residents living in Japan are people from the Asia region: China, Vietnam, and South Korea. The increasing number of foreign nationals working in Japan is indicative of the growing interest in job opportunities within the country.

Most people in the fiscal year of 2022 who obtained green cards in the United States came from Mexico, with a total of 138,772 green card recipients. India, China, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba rounded out the top five leading countries of origin for green card recipients in that year.

In 2023, around 532 thousand Chinese of Korean descent lived in South Korea, the largest group of foreign nationals. This was followed by immigrants from Vietnam and China, with around 247.3 thousand and 221 thousand respectively.

Tajikistan was the leading country of destination of Russian emigrants in 2024, with around 92,000 people changing their residence to that country. Among countries that were not former Soviet Union states, the major destinations were India, China, and Vietnam.

More than a quarter of new permanent residents arriving in Canada in 2024 were from India - by far the highest of any country. Less than seven percent will be from China, the second highest.

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.

From now until 2100, India and China will remain the most populous countries in the world, however China's population decline has already started, and it is on course to fall by around 50 percent in the 2090s; while India's population decline is projected to begin in the 2060s. Of the 10 most populous countries in the world in 2100, five will be located in Asia, four in Africa, as well as the United States. Rapid growth in Africa Rapid population growth across Africa will see the continent's population grow from around 1.5 billion people in 2024 to 3.8 billion in 2100. Additionally, unlike China or India, population growth in many of these countries is not expected to go into decline, and instead is expected to continue well into the 2100s. Previous estimates had projected these countries' populations would be much higher by 2100 (the 2019 report estimated Nigeria's population would exceed 650 million), yet the increased threat of the climate crisis and persistent instability is delaying demographic development and extending population growth. The U.S. as an outlier Compared to the nine other largest populations in 2100, the United States stands out as it is more demographically advanced, politically stable, and economically stronger. However, while most other so-called "advanced countries" are projected to see their population decline drastically in the coming decades, the U.S. population is projected to continue growing into the 2100s. This will largely be driven by high rates of immigration into the U.S., which will drive growth despite fertility rates being around 1.6 births per woman (below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman), and the slowing rate of life expectancy. Current projections estimate the U.S. will have a net migration rate over 1.2 million people per year for the remainder of the century.

In 2023, the total number of people who emigrated from South Korea amounted to around seven million. More than 2.6 million lived in the United States, followed by China with around 2.1 million.

This graph shows the population of the U.S. by race and ethnic group from 2000 to 2023. In 2023, there were around 21.39 million people of Asian origin living in the United States. A ranking of the most spoken languages across the world can be accessed here. U.S. populationCurrently, the white population makes up the vast majority of the United States’ population, accounting for some 252.07 million people in 2023. This ethnicity group contributes to the highest share of the population in every region, but is especially noticeable in the Midwestern region. The Black or African American resident population totaled 45.76 million people in the same year. The overall population in the United States is expected to increase annually from 2022, with the 320.92 million people in 2015 expected to rise to 341.69 million people by 2027. Thus, population densities have also increased, totaling 36.3 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2021. Despite being one of the most populous countries in the world, following China and India, the United States is not even among the top 150 most densely populated countries due to its large land mass. Monaco is the most densely populated country in the world and has a population density of 24,621.5 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2021. As population numbers in the U.S. continues to grow, the Hispanic population has also seen a similar trend from 35.7 million inhabitants in the country in 2000 to some 62.65 million inhabitants in 2021. This growing population group is a significant source of population growth in the country due to both high immigration and birth rates. The United States is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world.