A family with two young children watching a plane fly

Where do the most foreigners live? Top 10 countries and up-to-date analytics

07/12/2022, 17:35

Did you know that half of the world’s 272 million international migrants live in just 10 countries? In this text, we will list this top country and tell you which foreigners most often seek each destination.

Many people move from one country to another for work, study, or family reasons. Also, among the reasons for relocation are climate change, conflicts, or economic instability. In 2020, the number of immigrants was 272 million, which is 3.5% of the world’s population. Since 1990, their number has increased by about 119 million. Where do they all stay to live?

This is the question we are going to answer today, namely: which countries have the largest number of foreigners and where do these foreigners come from; we will also give another ranking: which countries have the largest number of foreigners as a percentage of the total population. We will base our contribution on data from the United Nations Population Division.

The United Nations defines an immigrant as someone who has lived in a country other than his or her country of birth for one year or longer. This definition includes all kinds of people: foreign workers, foreign students, and refugees.

In which countries do the most foreigners live (numerically)

Top 10 countries with the most foreign-born residents (immigrants) according to the United Nations (for 2020):

1. U.S. — 50.6 million (15.28% of the total population)

2. Germany — 15.8 million (18.81% of the total population)

3. Saudi Arabia — 13.5 million (38.65% of the total population)

4. Russia — 11.6 million (7.97% of the total population)

5. Great Britain — 9.4 million (13.79% of the total population)

6. The United Arab Emirates — 8.7 million (88.13% of the total population)

7. France — 8.5 million (13.06% of the total population)

8. Canada — 8.0 million (21.33% of the total population)

9. Australia — 7.7 million (30.14% of the total population)

10. Spain — 6.8 million (14.63% of the total population)

See the entire list of countries and analytics for each of them here.

Which foreigners living in these destinations the most?

The U.S. has the most residents from Mexico (10.8 million), India (2.7 million), China (2.1 million), the Philippines (2 million), and Puerto Rico (1.8 million).
In Germany — the inhabitants of Poland (2.1 million), Turkey (1.8 million), Russia (1.19 million), Kazakhstan (1.12 million), Syria (707 thousand).
In Saudi Arabia — the inhabitants of India (2.5 million), Indonesia (1.7 million), Pakistan (1.4 million), Bangladesh (1.2 million), Egypt (962 thousand).
In Russia — the inhabitants of Ukraine (3.2 million), Kazakhstan (2.5 million), Uzbekistan (1.1 million), Azerbaijan (767 thousand), Belarus (764 thousand).
In Great Britain — the inhabitants of Mexico (10.8 million), India (2.7 million), China (2.1 million), the Philippines (2 million), Puerto Rico (1.8 million).
In the UAE — people from India (3.4 million), Bangladesh (1.09 million), Pakistan (996 thousand), Egypt (900 thousand), Philippines (565 thousand).
In France — people from Algeria (1.6 million), Morocco (1.06 million), Portugal (640 thousand), Tunisia (445 thousand), Turkey (340 thousand).
In Canada — people from India (720 thousand), China (699 thousand), Philippines (634 thousand), United Kingdom (538 thousand), USA (273 thousand).
In Australia — people from the United Kingdom (1.28 million), China (653 thousand), India (579 thousand), Philippines (286 thousand), Vietnam (270 thousand).
In Spain — the inhabitants of Morocco (786 thousand), Romania (613 thousand), Colombia (450 thousand), Ecuador (430 thousand), Venezuela (326 thousand).