EU Migrant Workers transfer 39.1 billion euro's yearly to support families in countries of origin

There are presently more than 20 million third country nationals residing on the territory of the European Union (EU). In fact, Europe really needs more migrants than less

The home affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said that there had to be more effective legal ways for non EU-citizens to come to Europe to work or to study.

She added that immigration was clearly not the only answer, but it was certainly part of a common solution to the issues, such as labor and skills shortages in key sectors and the impact of ageing population and shrinking workforce, which Europe currently faced. Moreover, the EU Commissioner also pointed at the link between facilitating labour migration and the prevention of vulnerable migrants in irregular situations from exploitation.

On a global scale, the statistics show that the total number of international migrants has increased over the last 10 years from an estimated 150 million in 2000 to 214 million persons today. The United Nations claim that migrants would constitute the fifth most populous country in the world. It has also been estimated that 49% of migrants worldwide are women.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), on the other hand, has assessed that globally remittances have increased from $132 billion in 2000 to an estimated $ 440 billion in 2010.  

According to the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, the amount of money sent by migrants from EU27 member states to their country of origin in 2011 has increased in comparison to previous years, reaching 39.1 billion euro.  In a way this is far more money than some of the EU member countries earmark for development aid.

EU-Digest