Most international migrants don’t move very far from their home countries

Short-distance moves dominate global migration patterns. Most migrants don’t cross oceans or continents; they cross nearby borders, staying close to home.

If you were to leave your home country, how far would you go, and for what reason? Just over the nearest border? Across an ocean? Or to the other side of the world?

People often equate international migration with long journeys. But most migrants actually travel shorter distances, as you might expect if you put yourself into their situation.

Understanding migration patterns helps governments around the world plan for population and economic changes.

This article addresses a simple but important question: how far do international migrants usually move from their home countries?

But before we look at how far migrants travel, it’s useful to keep in mind that most people don’t move to a different country. 96% of the world’s population lives in the country where they were born. That means the people we’ll focus on here are a small fraction of the global population.