Migration & Labor Mobility

Migration pressures are growing, with 184 million people on the move globally. Most countries are simultaneously places of origin, transit, and destination. The poorest tend to migrate internally because international migration is costly. The World Bank is increasingly called upon to support countries in managing orderly migration.

Main drivers of migration

Income gaps remain a major driver, as large wage gaps persist both between and within high- and low-income countries. Widening income inequality within origin countries also fuels movement. For many poor people whose labor is their only asset, migration to a richer country offers an opportunity to escape poverty.

Demographic changes are also shaping migration: Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will become working-age adults, intensifying job creation challenges and migration pressures—especially from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, some developing countries are already experiencing faster societal aging at lower income levels, needing urgent policy actions to balance demographic transitions and sustain economic growth.

Climate change is expected to further drive migration, with models projecting up to 216 million people needing to move, although most would do so within their country rather than abroad.

Fragility, conflict, and violence continue to cause forced displacement, requiring collective international action. The World Bank’s analytical work provided recommendations to enhance the institution’s support to conflict-induced internally displaced persons and their host communities.

Beyond these drivers, social exclusion, corruption, lack of services, and diaspora networks also influence migration. Policy changes in both origin and destination countries can shape migration flows and better respond to demands for migrant labor.

The World Bank Group is working in partnership with countries to address the current global labor market imbalance through formal, demand-driven, and mutually beneficial worker-mobility solutions. Well-managed worker mobility can deliver a triple win: benefiting countries with a surplus of workers, countries with more jobs than workers, and the workers themselves.

By advancing innovative models like Global Skill Partnerships, the World Bank Group is helping bridge global labor shortages, unlock human potential, and make jobs a driver of shared prosperity. This approach ensures that worker mobility is formal, well-managed, and beneficial for all parties involved.

Migration is not a substitute for development at home, but it can be harnessed for development gains. As migration increases—driven by income gaps, demographic imbalances, and climate change—the Bank supports global efforts to promote safe, orderly, and regular migration, maximizing benefits for both sending and receiving countries.

Engaging with international partners

Addressing migration complexities requires robust partnerships within the World Bank Group and with other development banks, UN agencies, civil society, and the private sector, which plays a key role in job creation and financial services. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM), endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 2018, provides a cooperative framework for international migration, including climate-induced displacement. It emphasizes the human rights of migrants while respecting state sovereignty and international law.

The UN established a Network on Migration that includes the World Bank among its 38 organizational members. The Bank is also a custodian of three Sustainable Development Goals related to migration: reducing migrant recruitment costs, lowering remittance costs, and increasing remittance volumes.

Global Skill Partnerships (GSPs) establish bilateral agreements to train workers in countries with labor surpluses for employment in sectors facing shortages—such as healthcare, agribusiness, energy, tourism, and services—both at home and abroad. GSPs help meet global workforce needs while building skills and economic opportunities in lower-income countries.

The Bank Group is currently supporting six GSPs, including partnerships between Australia and Tonga; Canada and Kenya; Italy and Tunisia; and Spain with Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. The Bank is also working to strengthen the various elements of a managed-migration system in other countries, such as Bangladeshand Senegal (together with the IFC), to support regular, formal worker mobility.

• UN Network on Migration
• Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD)
• Global Migration Group
• Financial Action Task Force