According to the United Nations and the Migration Data Portal, there were 188,207 registered migrants in our country in 2024, representing 6.2% of all residents.
That is not a lot. In the United Arab Emirates, migrants make up the vast majority of the population, 74%. In Saudi Arabia they are 40.3%, in Jordan 45.7%, and in Singapore 48.7%.
As of 2024, the global migrant population has reached 304 million, reflecting a steady increase in cross-border movement.
The United States continues to be the world’s leading destination for migrants, hosting 52.4 million people, more than the next four countries combined.
Other major migrant-receiving countries include Germany, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. This underscores how developed economies and energy-rich nations depend on foreign workers to sustain growth, fill labor shortages and offset aging populations.
Economic opportunities and crises are driving different patterns of leaving home, from labor migration in India and China to forced displacement from Ukraine, Syria and Venezuela.
Some economies are fundamentally dependent on migrants, especially the Gulf countries, where foreign workers constitute the majority of the population.
Looking at the countries of origin of migrants, the picture is different. India and China remain the leaders in the number of people living abroad, reflecting their huge populations and deep integration into global labor markets. In these cases, migration is often driven by economic opportunities rather than population movements.
In contrast, countries such as Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela demonstrate how conflict, political instability, and economic collapse can rapidly alter migration flows. In these cases, migration is less a choice than a necessity, with sudden spikes triggered by crises that spread across borders.
In countries such as Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltic States and some others, migration is purely economic. People leave because of their inability to find a decent paid job in their home country, because of political and economic instability, in an effort to ensure a decent and secure future for their children.
From 30,000 to 42,000+ people emigrate from Moldova every year, mostly in search of work. Over the last 5 years, the country has lost more than 200,000 residents, leading to a rapidly declining population and an aging society. The majority of those leaving are young people of working age (20-39 years old). Of the total flow of Moldovan citizens leaving for other countries, 89% are looking for work, 11% – for studies or other reasons.
During 30 years of independence Moldova has lost about 40% of its population, from 4.36 million in 1991 to 2.4 million at the beginning of 2024 (excluding Transnistria).
Of the 188,000 migrants who have come to the country, the majority are Ukrainian citizens waiting out the war.
