Foreign-born Population
Foreign-born Population by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Vatican City stands out with a foreign-born share of 100%, far ahead of Qatar (76.7%) and the United Arab Emirates (74%). The top 10 is dominated by small European states and Gulf economies, with Singapore also ranking highly at 48.7%. At the other end, Cuba has the lowest share at 0.02%, while China, Madagascar, Myanmar, and the Philippines are all at 0.1%. It is also notable that several large Asian countries appear among the very lowest values.
Regional trends
Europe has the highest continental average at 19.53%, well above the global mean of 10.7%, while Asia is second at 13.01%, boosted by several very high-income migrant-destination states. Oceania (9.564) and North America (8.831) sit closer to the world average but still below it. South America (4.667) and Africa (3.563) have the lowest regional averages, indicating generally smaller foreign-born shares across those continents.
Data source
The data come from UN DESA 2024 and measure the foreign-born population as a percentage of each country's total population. Coverage includes 197 countries. A caveat is that values can be heavily influenced by very small states and specialized migration hubs, which appear prominently at the top of the ranking.
Interpretation
Higher values indicate a larger share of residents born abroad, which in this dataset is treated as better. Very high shares often point to countries that are major destinations for migrants, while very low shares suggest relatively limited inward migration or more closed migration systems. Overall, the data show a highly uneven global pattern: a few countries have exceptionally large foreign-born populations, while many others remain near zero.