1. Marge Fauvelle and Ayima Okeeva (UNECE)
Main results of the UNECE Questionnaire on International Migration Statistics and “difficult-to-measure” migrant groups
Marge Fauvelle and Ayima Okeeva (UNECE)

2. Objectives of the Questionnaire
To review how national statistical offices (NSOs) define migrant stocks and migration flows
To build a crosswalk between definitions and sources used by different countries
To obtain a preliminary glimpse of data quality from the various sources and for the different population groups
To collect information on practices and methodologies used to define and estimate “difficult to measure” international migrant groups.

3. Structure of the Questionnaire
1. Entire Populations
1a. Stocks of International Migrants
Questions for 9 types of data source relating to UNECE definitions of population groups
1b. Flows of International Migrants
Immigrants: - Data sources; duration of stay; coverage (legal status); data adjustments/revisions/corrections.
Emigrants: - Data sources; duration of stay; coverage (legal status); data adjustments/revisions/corrections
Both: - Population balancing equation
2. Hard to Measure migrant groups
Scope, definitions and methodologies used by countries to measure/estimate

4. Participation and Response
Number of countries mailed
= 58
Number of responses
43 UNECE countries + 7 others
= 50
Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia: 8
South-Eastern Europe: 5
European Union 25
EFTA: 2
Mediterranean:
America and Oceania:

5. 8 Definitions of population sub-groups
“Foreign born”
“Foreigners”
“Descendents”
“Persons with foreign background”
“Ever international migrants”
“Returned citizens”
“Members of ethnic groups” or
“Other” (where respondents were asked to specify the reference group).

6. 9 Data Sources Population Registers Foreigners Registers
Residence/Stay Permits
Other Administrative Sources
Last Census
Next Census
Household Survey
Other Household/Sample Survey
Other Sources

7. Frequency/prevalence of data sources
Number of data sources reported by countries
Average number of data sources reported by groups of countries 3 5 13 16 6 2 10 15 20
8 sources
7 sources
6 sources
5 sources
4 sources
3 sources
2 sources
4.8
5.3
4.5
3.6
4.4
4.2
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
ALL REGIONS
EU+EFTA
EECCA
SEE
Mediterranean
America
+Oceania

8. Immigrant Stocks (i) Most common sources
 No.s of countries replying
Latest Census
Future Census
Household Sample Survey
Residence/stay permits
Population register
Population groups
Exists in 49 countries
Exists in 48 countries
Exists in 35 countries
Exists in 34 countries
Exists in 27 countries
Def°n comply
Data on group
Foreign born 36 42 33 45 17 26 7 8 18 20
Foreigners 32 40 43 15 19 23
Descendents 4 6 13 3 1 2
Foreign background 5 12
Ever intl. migrant 14 25
Returned 28
Ethnic groups
Other

9. Immigrant Stocks (ii) Least common sources
Foreigners Register
Other Administrative source
Other Survey
Other Source
No.s of countries replying
Exists in 19 countries
Exists in 15 countries
Exists in 12 countries
Exists in 7 countries
Def°n comply
Data on group
Foreign born 3 4 5 9
Foreigners 8 12 10 6
Descendents 2 1
Foreign background
Ever migrant
Returned
Ethnic groups
Other

10. Immigrant Stocks (iii) Length of stay

11. Immigrant Stocks (v) Hard to measure groups
Data Source
Irregular
Institutionalised
Refugee
Asylum applicant
Schengen
Dependent
Minor
Diplomatic
Other
Pop Reg 2 21 17 6 16 19 5
For Reg 10 11 7 4 1
Res Permit 14 15 20 3
Other Admin 8 12
Last Census 27 38 31
Next Census 24 40 9
Hhold Survey 18
Other Survey
Other Source

12. Emigrant Stocks Who is using which type of data source?
Number of countries
Which countries?
Population register 9
Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
Census (2000) 8
Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Serbia
Census (2010)
Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia
Embassy register 10
Belgium, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey
Police register 3
Egypt (work permit register), Kyrgyzstan (Special card registering migration of population), Russia
Household survey 5
Croatia (LFS), Czech Republic (LFS), Egypt (International Migration Surveys, 1987 & 1997), Kyrgyzstan (Employment and Unemployment Module), Poland (LFS, EU-SILC),
Other
Kyrgyzstan (Survey of household budgets - Section on Migration of Population), Poland (Estimates made by the CSO based on different sources), Spain (If a person included in the Population Register is going to live abroad, we also include this circumstance in that Register)

13. Immigrant Flows Type of data source Number of countries
Population register 20
Other source 7
Residence permits 6
Asylum applicants
Police register 5
Foreigner register 4
Visas 3
Other register
Border cards
LFS
Other survey
Border sample 1
Other countries

14. Immigrant and Emigrant Flows

15. Conclusions (i) (Part 1 of questionnaire)
Censuses represent the commonest data source for migration statistics
“Foreign-born” and “Foreigners” are the definitions most commonly used to identify stocks of immigrants
But not all countries adhere precisely to the UN definitions (32/45) and (33/43) respectively (Future Census).
Household Surveys also have some potential: 17/26 countries can adhere to the UN definition for “Foreign-born”.
Data on “Foreigners” are also obtainable in 23 countries from population registers and records of residence/stay permits.
Length of stay is a determinant for about two-fifths of countries
Censuses, population registers, surveys and resident permit records represent a source of information for certain, but not all hard to measure groups.
20 countries use population registers to measure immigrant population flows
14 countries are revising or adjusting their migration data in some way

16. Methodologies for estimating “Difficult to Measure” International Migrant Groups

17. Objectives
To explore the relevance of “difficult to measure” international migrant groups
To identify the group(s) for which the provision of a statistical count/estimate represents an issue
To find out whether estimates of “difficult to measure” international migrant group(s) are provided within the framework of official statistics or by other data providers
To collect information on the methodology utilized for the estimation.

18. Groups considered Short-term migrants Irregular/undocumented migrants
Refugees/forced migrants
Asylum seekers
Transit migrants
Circular migrants
Trafficked migrants
Minors

19. MAIN RESULTS

20. Particularity of these migrant groups Heterogeneous sources
Limitations:
Comparability of data
- Little (or no) access to data
Definitions
Particularity of these migrant groups
Heterogeneous sources

21. Relevance of "Difficult to Measure" Migrant Groups in UNECE Member States

22. Challenges in Provision of Statistical Estimates on “Difficult to Measure” Migrant Groups

23. Provision of Statistical Estimates by National Statistical Offices

24. To estimate “Difficult to Measure” migrant groups various sources are used by:
NSOs
Other government agency or local authority
Research institutes, universities and NGOs
All reported using various sources

25. Conclusions (ii) (Difficult to Measure)
Demonstrated interest of some States
Existing good country practices
Administrative sources have some potential
Existing possibilities to collect and produce migration statistics on a national level
Willingness of international organizations to assist and support initiatives on collection and production of data

26. Conclusions (iii) (Overall)
Some progress has been made in terms of mapping data availability in UNECE region
Mapping exercise includes a number of perspectives, stocks and flows; immigrant and emigrant groups; length of stay; hard to measure groups and methodological considerations (coverage/inclusion)
Response to the questionnaire has been excellent, but parts of some questionnaires incomplete for institutional reasons.
Some useful metadata provided
Some inconsistencies noticed in responses (i.e. minors)
The value of Household surveys for migration statistics is better defined
The importance of forthcoming Censuses as a data source migration statistics is overwhelming