Finance & economics | Exodus

A new wave of mass migration has begun

What does it mean for rich-world economies?

Image: George Wylesol
|St John’s, Newfoundland

Last year 1.2m people moved to Britain—almost certainly the most ever. Net migration (ie, immigrants minus emigrants) to Australia is twice the rate before covid-19. Spain’s equivalent figure recently hit an all-time high. Nearly 1.4m people on net are expected to move to America this year, one-third more than before the pandemic. In 2022 net migration to Canada was more than double the previous record and in Germany it was even higher than during the “migration crisis” of 2015.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Exodus”

From the June 3rd 2023 edition

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