Statistics in Focus: Population and social conditions. Why do people migrate?

Abstract

International migration flows have increased in magnitude and complexity over the past decades. As a result, migration and potential migration to, for instance, the European Union are receiving ever more attention at policy level. Within this context, the Commission of the European Communities entrusted Eurostat, and the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) with a project to study the push and pull factors determining international migration flows. The objective of the project is to improve understanding of the direct and indirect causes and mechanisms of international migration to the European Union, from an internationally comparative perspective. The results are intended to serve as a basis for the development of policy instruments and to provide tools for estimating future migration. The project started in 1994 with a feasibility study. Based on the results of this preparatory stage, surveys were set up in a number of countries, both migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries. The results are presented in a comparative report "Push and pull factors of international migration" (ISBN 92-828-9721-4) and in a series of eight country reports, published by Eurostat during 2000.