The OECD study highlights that family reunification continues to be the main reason for permanent migration, while labor flows were reduced
The number of migrants who permanently entered the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell 4% in 2024, after three years of sustained growth. Even so, the total figure of 6.2 million permanent entries remains 15% above pre-pandemic levels, according to the International Migration Outlook 2025 report.
In the midst of this slight global slowdown, Venezuela once again appeared among the main countries of origin of asylum seekers, along with Colombia and Syria. The report notes that OECD countries received 3.1 million new asylum applications in 2024, the highest level recorded so far and 13% more than in 2023.
The OECD study highlights that the Family reunification continues to be the main reason for permanent migrationwhile labor flows were reduced. However, in nations with broader humanitarian programs, such as the United States, migratory flows increased 20%, driven precisely by the arrivals of people fleeing political and economic crises, such as the Venezuelan one.
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“Migration flows to OECD countries contribute to addressing labor shortages and reinforce the resilience of economies,” said the organization’s secretary general, Mathias Cormann, who stressed the need to speed up the recognition of qualifications and skills of foreign workers to reduce the wage gap and promote their integration.
The report also reveals that naturalizations reached historic levels, with almost three million people obtaining nationality in OECD countries during 2024. Germany and the United Kingdom led this process, with 290,000 and 270,000 new citizens, respectively.
Regarding labor insertion, the employment rate of adult immigrants was 70.9%, slightly below the 72.1% among the native population. Migrant women registered a significant improvement, reaching 63.5% employment.
The OECD warns that, despite the post-pandemic economic recovery, wage gaps between migrants and natives remain wide: during the first year, foreign workers earn on average 34% less than their local peers, although that difference is reduced to 21% after five years.
In the healthcare field, the organization highlights the crucial role of migrant professionals: in 2020-2021, there were more than 830,000 doctors and 1.7 million nurses born abroad in OECD countries. However, the procedures for recognizing their qualifications remain slow and complex.
Currently, 34 countries are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), some of them are Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Germany, Iceland.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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