Irregular migration data portal
This page brings together estimates of irregular migrants living in European and North American countries between 2008 and 2023
The interactive map below presents the most recent irregular migration population estimates of at least medium quality in different countries since 2008, which were compiled and assessed under the MIrreM project. They can be viewed as a number, as a share of the total population and as a share of the foreign-born population who are not covered by free movement policies (i.e., in Europe those who were born outside of the Schengen zone and in the UK and Ireland, those who were born outside of the Common Travel Area). Where available, estimates from 2008 are also presented.
INTRO
The MIrreM project examined irregular migration estimates in 20 countries in Europe, North America and North Africa between 2008 and 2023. It follows in the steps of the Clandestino project, which carried out a similar exercise in 12 European countries between 2000 and 2008.
Interested users are encouraged to:
- Explore the interactive map for the most recent, highest quality estimates
- Read top line findings and find related publications below the map
- Visit individual country pages to view additional estimates (click on a country in the map for the relevant link)
- Probe the full Dataset (external site)
The irregular migration estimates examined come with inherent uncertainty and significant limitations. Comparisons between estimates should be interpreted with particular caution. For information about the limitations of the data, the quality assessment criteria and cross-country findings, see the report, The Irregular Migration Population of Europe.
(Kierans and Vargas-Silva, 2024)
INTERACTIVE MAP
TOP LINE FINDINGS
- Based on the most recent estimates in the Database, there were between 2.6 million and 3.2 million estimated irregular migrants living in 12 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK) over the period 2016 and 2023.
- This figure represents less than 1% of the total population and between 8% and 10% of the foreign-born population from countries outside of the Schengen Area (for EU countries) and the Common Travel Area (for Ireland and the UK).
- Amongst the countries studied by the MIrreM project, the United States has the largest estimated irregular migration population not only in terms of absolute numbers, but relative to its total and foreign-born populations.
- Finland has the smallest estimated irregular migration population in terms of its size and its share of the total and foreign-born populations amongst the countries we covered.
- Of the 20 countries MIrreM looked at, no estimates at all were found for 5 countries (all ‘transit countries’ as conceptualised within the project) and only 1 estimate of poor quality was found for Canada.
- Taking the estimates produced under the Clandestino project as a baseline, there was no definitive change in the estimated number of irregular migrants across the 12 European countries since 2008.
- At the individual country level, however, many of the estimated irregular migration populations across Europe appear to have changed:
- Increases in Austria, Germany and Spain
- No change in Belgium, France, Italy, the UK and the US
- Decreases in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands and Poland
- The countries with the largest estimated irregular migrant populations in Europe (the UK and Germany) have some of the most outdated estimates and represent a significant gap in the knowledge base.
- There is a need for consistent and more frequent estimates of the irregular migrant population in Europe, an exercise that could be coordinated by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
