ILO global estimates on international migrant workers: results and methodology

The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has been having an unparalleled impact on the global economy and the world of work. The ILO estimates that 93 per cent of the world's workers were residing in countries with some form of COVID-19-related workplace closure measures in early January 2021, with many international migrants remaining among the most vulnerable. In many regions, international migrant workers account for an important share of the labour force, making vital contributions to their destination countries' societies and economies, and delivering essential jobs in critical sectors like health care, transportation, services, agriculture and food processing.

Yet many migrant workers are often to be found in temporary, informal or unprotected jobs, which has exposed them to an even greater risk of insecurity, layoffs and worsening working conditions. Moreover, the COVID-19 impacts on women migrant workers appear to have intensified already existing vulnerabilities, as they are over-represented in low-paid and low-skilled jobs and have limited access to and fewer options for support services. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the magnitude and characteristics of international labour migration. This third edition of the Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers takes 2019 as its reference year, predating the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, and it offers a benchmark against which the COVID-19 driven changes can be analysed in future work.

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