304 Million Migrants Across the Globe in 2024 - Press Conference | United Nations

Press conference by Zoe Brennan, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Spokesperson, and Jonathan Prentice, Head of the UN Network on Migration, on the launch of the World Migration Report. They were joined virtually by Pablo Rojas Coppari and Stuart Russell Campo from IOM's research team to address any technical questions on the report. Zoe Brennan said ensuring safe and regular pathways, supporting skills, mobility and strengthening regional cooperation “are concrete steps that respect national borders and priorities and help countries manage migration more effectively while delivering real benefits for economies and people alike.” Brennan said, “when migration is well managed, it supports jobs, economic growth, stability and social cohesion,” and added that “migrants contribute as workers and entrepreneurs and consumers, and through the skills, innovation and connections they bring across borders.” By the end of 2024, she said, “an estimated 83.4 million people were internally displaced within their own countries, the highest number ever recorded, driven by conflict, violence and disasters.” This, Brennan said, “underscores that most displacement happens within countries rather than across borders.” Responding to a reporter’s question, Stuart Campo from IOM’s research team said, “while we saw in the last year a reduction in attempted crossings on the central Mediterranean route, which is one of the major routes, we saw a doubling in the number of migrants who went missing or were found dead. So, this shows that these routes are becoming more dangerous and treacherous.” According to the report, international migration remains relatively uncommon in global terms, with around 304 million international migrants worldwide in mid-2024, 3.7 percent of the global population. Human displacement, the report finds, continues to rise, with over 120 million people displaced globally by the end of 2024, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons, reflecting the scale and persistence of protracted conflicts and compounding crises. Environmental disruption is now a defining feature of contemporary mobility, as record‑breaking temperatures, droughts, wildfires, and storms increasingly interact with poverty, weak infrastructure and governance challenges to influence displacement, migration, and immobility, according to the report.


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