Some 6.5 million migrants upped stakes from less-well-off nations to relocate to wealthier nations in 2023, according to figures released by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Around a third of the 38 OECD members experienced record-breaking arrival numbers last year, including Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland, and the UK. However, this influx of poorer immigrants was not evenly split among the planet’s more affluent nations, with another third seeing a drop, including Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, and New Zealand. OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said that “buoyant labor demand” has been the driving force behind this increase in movement from the world’s more deprived areas. “Many OECD countries are facing widespread labor shortages and looming demographic changes and growing numbers of labor migrants have contributed to sustained economic growth,” he said. “Increasing the accessibility and availability of labor migration channels contributes to addressing labor shortages and is essential to strengthening overall control of flows and managing irregular migration.” Topping the table of countries listed in the figures was the UK, which saw 746,900 new permanent arrivals last year, up from 2022’s influx of 488,400. This 52.9 percent year-on-year rise was by far the highest out of any member of the OECD, […]