Foreword

With many regions in OECD countries facing declining working age populations, the geographical dimension of migration has become crucial for regional development. Where migrants settle within countries and how much they contribute to their local economies are important questions for policy makers.

Fully addressing these questions requires geographically granular data on the presence of migrants and their performance in local labour markets. In addition, a detailed analysis of the factors driving the capacity of local economies to successfully integrate migrants is necessary to ensure that the full potential of migration can be realised. This report aims to address both needs through two novel datasets.

The first updates and extends the existing OECD Regional Database on migration and migrant integration with an increased number of indicators as well as an increased geographical scope and time coverage. The resulting dataset, which includes more than 120 indicators, covering 36 countries over two decades, provides a comprehensive picture of the education and labour market outcomes of migrants across OECD regions. The second offers unprecedentedly granular information on the geography of migration, providing a means to measure, and consistently compare, changes in migration settlement patterns across municipalities of 22 OECD countries.

Furthermore, the report provides new insights on the role of migration on regional development, highlighting opportunities and challenges for integrating migrants successfully in regional economies. Overall, whilst for some workers and places there may be short-term transition impacts, the findings show that migration can generate valuable benefits for regional economic development, especially over the longer term. Through the variety of evidence provided, this report supports policies designed to enhance the potential benefits of migration in all regions.

This report is published under the Programme of Work of the OECD Regional Development Policy Committee (RDPC). This report was submitted for approval by the Regional Development Policy Committee on 17 November 2021 [CFE/RDPC(2021)20].

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