DATASETS
International Migration Flows
The International Migration Flows dataset measures country-to-country migration flows on a monthly basis for the years 2019-2022. This public dataset is based on aggregated data from people using Facebook in more than 180 countries.
Download from the Humanitarian Data Exchange
Key Features
Global reach
The International Migration dataset offers monthly insights on migration flows for the majority of the world, including the 3/4ths of UN member states for which no official source on flows exist. The dataset can help public sector agencies, international organizations and researchers better tailor their programs and policies on the topic of international migration.Inflows and outflows
Leveraging changes in home locations for more than 3 billion people, we can measure migration for both inflows and outflows, including not only the number of people who arrived in a country but also those who left, on a monthly basis.Publicly available
The International Migration Flows dataset is publicly available and can be downloaded from Humanitarian Data Exchange.
Methodology
Step 1: Identify home country
Migration is defined as living in one country for the majority of a 12-month period before moving to another country for the majority of the following 12 months, the definition recommended by the United Nations. We determine the country of residence for each individual using an algorithm that takes into account signals such as the IP addresses they use, their self-reported home country, and other inputs. The same predictive model for home country location has been used in other studies based on active users of the Facebook platform.Step 2: Map migration flows
To determine if users migrate internationally, we search within each individual sequence of home country locations to determine if their home country changes for at least 12 months. This definition aligns closely with that used by the United Nations Statistics Division, which defines a person’s usual residence as the place at which the person has lived continuously for most of the last 12 months.Step 3: Re-weight estimates to total population
In order to provide estimates for the total population level of migration, we adjust our estimates using a variety of weighting mechanisms. We use annual population estimates for 2019-2022 from the World Bank, which compiles data from the United Nations Population Division, national statistical publications, Eurostat, the United Nations Statistical Division’s Population and Vital Statistics Report, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. We also use the population data as part of our validation exercises to normalize the immigration counts by the population of the receiving country.RESOURCES
Using International Migration Flows
The International Migration Flows dataset can be downloaded from the Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX).
Download from the Humanitarian Data Exchange