CHRISTIANS are the world’s largest migrant group, 47 per cent of them currently living outside their country of birth, new analysis of data has found.
The findings are set out in a report from the Pew Research Center, The Religious Composition of the World’s Migrants, released on Monday. The study shows that, despite high levels of concern about migration in Europe, most European immigrants come from elsewhere within Europe and are Christian.
Christians are said to make up a larger share of migrants — 47 per cent — than their share of the global population, which is 30 per cent. Mexico is the commonest place of origin of Christian migrants, and the United States is their most likely destination. Muslim migrants account for only a slightly larger share — 29 per cent — of their global population of 25 per cent.
The study is based on an analysis of UN data and 270 censuses and surveys to compare migration data from 2020 and 1990. The researchers found that, over these three decades, the total number of people living as migrants had increased by 83 per cent. More than 280 million people, 3.6 per cent of the world’s population, are now international migrants.
The study looked at all people living outside their country of birth, no matter when they migrated, rather than the more commonly studied statistic of yearly migration figures, Pew says. It found that the religious make-up of all international migrants had remained relatively stable over the past three decades.
The analysis shows that, in Europe, 56 per cent of migrants are Christian. Muslims make up 18 per cent migrants in Europe, although they make up only seven per cent of Europe’s overall population. Jewish people, Hindus, and Buddhists make up much smaller shares of migrant numbers in Europe.
Christian migrants in Europe are most often from Russia, Ukraine, and Poland; some of these movements can be attributed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many of the Muslim migrants to Europe were born in Turkey, Syria, Morocco, and Algeria. Numbers of Syrian refugees were increasing because of war.
An analysis of destination countries for Muslim migrants shows that the UK does not make the top ten. Muslim migrants are more likely to seek sanctuary in countries near to their birth country: Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the top destinations. On the European continent, Germany and France welcome the most Muslim migrants. Globally, India is the most common country of origin for Muslim migrants. Most move to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
Jewish people make up just 0.2 per cent of the world’s population, but account for one per cent of all migrants — making them the most likely in the world to live outside their country of birth, the study says.
In 2020, one in five Jewish people had moved from their home country. Israel is the overwhelming destination country for Jewish people. Israel has 51 per cent of all Jewish migrants, owing to its Law of Return, which grants Jewish people the right to receive automatic citizenship and make aliyah, a move to Israel. The US has the second largest population of Jewish migrants, from Israel, Russia, and Canada.
The UK is the third commonest destination for Jewish migration. Jewish migration to the UK trebled between 1990 and 2020, from 40,000 to 120,000.
The report says that, although people migrate for many reasons, including job prospects, religion and migration are, nevertheless, often closely linked.
“Many migrants have moved to escape religious persecution or to live among people who hold similar religious beliefs. While migration patterns of religious groups differ, the groups have a lot in common. . . Migrants frequently go to countries where their religious identity is already prevalent. Many Muslims have moved to Saudi Arabia, while Jewish people have gravitated toward Israel. Christians and religiously unaffiliated migrants have the same top three destination countries: the US, Germany and Russia.”
Migrants to Russia are most likely to come from countries near by, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.
But, although religion was a factor, moving from “a poor or dangerous country to one where they hope to find prosperity and safety” was the main driver for most migration, the report says.