Honouring the contributions of migrants to our societies – International Migrants’ Day 2023

On this 18 December, the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union celebrate International Migrants’ Day by honouring all the ways in which migrants contribute to our societies. Today, about 184 million people live outside their country of origin worldwide, and almost 24 million live, work and study in Europe.  

In 2022, 9.93 million non-EU citizens were employed in the EU labour market. Migrants contribute daily to EU prosperity and diversity, while also contributing to their home countries’ economies, where remittances outweigh by far official development aid.  

Creating legal and safe pathways for migrants  

The EU is taking a series of initiatives to attract the skills and talents necessary to tackle growing labour shortages. The Skills and Talent Mobility initiatives, presented by the Commission in November 2023, will help recruit jobseekers from non-EU countries and match them to jobs where there is EU-wide shortage. They will also provide information on recruitment and legal migration procedures, while ensuring fair working conditions for non-EU nationals. The proposed Talent Pool would be the first such platform of its kind in the EU. 

In addition, on 14 December, during the Global Refugee Forum held in Geneva, Commissioner Johansson announced a collective EU pledge from Member States of a further 61,000 places for resettlement and humanitarian admission. These pledges also include the EU’s commitment to further promote complementary pathways to the EU and community sponsorship schemes, as well as the continuation of funding for the Emergency Transit Mechanisms.    

Moreover, the new legislative measures adopted by the Commission to prevent and fight migrant smuggling introduce a new legal, operational and international cooperation framework against migrant smuggling for the years to come. This double approach further ensures that while safe pathways for migrants who seek protection or wish to live and work in the EU are accessible, unsafe and illegal routes run by criminal networks are controlled and effectively brought down.  

Knowledge building for fair and balanced migration management  

These policies are the result of years of knowledge building on migration management. The Atlas of Migration, whose latest edition was recently released by the European Commission’s Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography, is one of the tools offering a wealth of information on migration patterns, providing key insights for the development of legal pathways for migration to the EU. 

The Atlas includes all the latest available data on migration in the 27 EU Member States and 171 non-EU countries and territories, revealing migration dynamics at global level.

Find out more 

Commission proposes an EU Talent Pool to help address labour shortages across Europe 

2023 Global Refugee Forum: The EU announces resettlement pledges 

Commission reinforces EU rules and launches a Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling

Atlas of Migration 2023: A new edition to navigate the complexities of global migration 

Statistics on migration to Europe