Global Migration Is Slowing. Yes, Really
As incomes rise and birthrates fall, emigration tends to boom, but only up to a point.
Gallup recently estimated, on the basis of polling in 152 nations, that about 750 million people around the world want to move to another country. That’s a lot! North America and Western Europe are the most favored destinations, which will conjure visions for some people of vast waves of immigrants crashing upon their shores.
Saying you want to emigrate and actually doing it are very different things, though. According to Gallup, 16 percent of U.S. residents wish to leave. The U.S. diaspora is something less than 3 percent of the domestic population, so I’m guessing a lot of Americans aren’t serious about their stated intentions. In other countries, the will might be there but the way is not. Immigration restrictions play a role, but so do low incomes, as many lack the resources to leave.