Labour migration in Asia and the Pacific

According to the most recent ILO estimates, in 2017 there were 163.8 million migrant workers in the world. In terms of gender, men migrant workers represent 58.4 per cent (95.7 million) while women migrant workers represent 41.6 per cent (68.1 million). Asia and the Pacific hosts 20.4 per cent of these migrants. The Arab States have the highest proportion of migrant workers to all workers (40.8 per cent), and host 13.9 per cent of migrant workers worldwide, most of them from South-East and South Asia. There are other key migration corridors in the region, including to and within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region; Migrant workers from Pacific Island Countries find jobs in seasonal worker programmes in Australia and New Zealand. Read more

Migrant Worker Resource Centre staff in Prey Veng, Cambodia, TRIANGLE in ASEAN Programme. See more photos on labour migration in ILO Flickr photo library.