Migration statistics in Eurostat - Definition, statistical production and dissemination

Eurostat

Migration Statistics in Eurostat

Definitions, statistical production and dissemination

Giampaolo LanzieriEUROSTAT

Where are they produced within Eurostat?

Directorate F

Social Statistics

Unit F1

Social Indicators

Project:

Labour migration

Unit F2

Population and Migration

Team:

Demography, Migration and

Projections

Team:

Census and Managed Migration

Unit F3

Labour Market

Project:

EU-LFS ad-hoc module on migrants

EU Workshop on Migration Data, Ispra, 10 November 2016

G. Lanzieri: Migration Statistics in Eurostat2

- All citizenships- Migration flows- Migrants stocks- Data providers: NSIs

- Only TCNs- Asylum, RP, EIL statistics- Integration (shared with F3)- Data providers: Home Affairs

Directorate C

National Accounts

Unit C5

Balance of Payments

Project:

Personal remittances

census data on migrants stocks

UN definitions


G. Lanzieri: Migration Statistics in Eurostat 3

Three EU legislative pillars



862/2007Migration

1260/2013Demography

763/2008Pop. census

Who is a 'migrant'?



Statistical capture of migration

• Usually considered 2 elements to identify a migration:• The crossing of a border (space)• The duration of stay abroad (time)

• Often neglected: the timing of the statistical measurement

Different implementation of the concept of 'stay'



Reporting time and concepts of 'stay'

• Reporting time 1 (R1):• the person is included in the migration flow of the year t if the

intention of stay is of at least one year• Reporting time 2 (R2):

• the person is included if the intention of stay is of at least one year, or considering an actual stay of 6 months + 1 day (most of the year)

• Reporting time 3 (R3):• the person is included if the actual stay is of at least one

(continuous) year or, in default, based on the intention of staymeasured at earlier time



time

1st half year t+1 2nd half year t+12nd half year t

R2 R3R1arrival

'Actual' vs. 'intended' stay

• The 'intended stay' should be a proxy of the 'actual stay' used when:• The timing of the reporting does not allow to

assess an actual stay of a year (R1 or R2 in the example before)

• The data source cannot capture the information on actual stay (e.g., survey of passengers at arrival)

• The 'intended stay' avoids the would-be migrant to remain in a 'statistical limbo' for a year



The 'risk' of timeliness

Increasing need of timely information on 'would-be migrants'

Earlier reporting (towards 'real-time')

Larger use of 'intention of stay'

Higher risk of mismatch 'intended'-'actual' stay



Confusing messages

• 'Media' language: • arrival = asylum seeker = refugee = migrant = …

• 'Statistical' language:• arrival ≠ asylum seeker ≠ refugee ≠ migrant ≠ …

• The farther one is from technicalities, the fuzzier become the distinctions

Need to use consistent terminology



AS&R in migration statistics

• Variety of practices across MSs (Eurostat survey 2015)

• Recommended practice (consistent with international recommendations):• Inclusion in migration flows/stocks when the

actual stay is at least 12 months• Acceptable approximation: inclusion in migration

flows/stocks once granted protection ('refugee'), regardless of the length of actual stay



Eurostat annual data collections

• R1: DEMOBAL (demographic balance)• R2: URESPOP (only UR total population)• R3: NOWCAST (latest monthly data)• R4: UNIDEMO (most comprehensive)• D4: validation/dissemination UNIDEMO



Q1

time

year t

R1 R4R2stock R3 D4migration events

31.12 30.6 31.8

year t+1 year t+2

30.11 31.12

UNIDEMO data collection

• Mix of mandatory and voluntary data from 49 countries• Deadline for transmission by the data provider is at the

end of year t+1 for:• Migration flows occurred during year t• Migrants stocks at the end of year t (disseminated as

stocks on 1.1.t+1)

• Dissemination in about 8 weeks• Revisions possible at any time and for any year• Migration data more reliable from 2008 onwards (entry

into force of the EU Regulation)



Volume of annual migration data

FOR EACH COUNTRY Nr of tables Figures collected of which mandatory

Migrants stocks 5 35 000 4 000

Immigration 11 102 000 5 000

Emigration 8 95 000 0

Acquisition of citizenship 2 31 000 16 000

Loss of citizenship 1 1 000 0

TOTAL 27 264 000 25 000



Total processed figures per year: ≈ 13 millionsof which mandatory < 10%

Data collected on migrants stocks



Nr of countries having provided data

Reference time 31.12.2014 ≡ 1.1.2015

Data collected on migration flows



Reference year 2014

Nr of countries having provided data

Validation

• Extensive set of validation rules (cross-checking also with demographic variables) to be met before data transmission to Eurostat is allowed

• Additional checks in the production database• Interactive data visualization

• Metadata screening• Regular meetings with NSIs (Eurostat WG on

Population Statistics) with quality reporting• Every 3 years: official report to EP&C on quality



Examples of doubtful cases



Dissemination channels

• Direct dissemination:• Eurobase (Eurostat database)• Statistics Explained• News releases• Eurostat publications

• Users downloads Jan-Aug 2016: > 860 000• Indirect dissemination

• Open data portals (e.g., EU Open Data Portal)• Re-use by other institutions (publications, et.)



Eurostat dissemination policy

• All users are treated equitably• Dissemination of statistics in a format convenient

for the widest range of users• Custom-designed analyses and extractions are

provided when feasible and made public• Access for everyone to the same information at

the same moment in time



Copyright

• Eurostat has a policy of encouraging free re-use of its data, both for non-commercial and commercial purposes.

• All statistical data, metadata, content of web pages or other dissemination tools, official publications and other documents published on its website (with some exceptions http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about/our-partners/copyright), can be reused without any payment or written licence provided that:• the source is indicated as Eurostat;• when re-use involves modifications to the data or

text, this must be stated clearly to the end user of the information.



Looking ahead - ongoing projects

• Re-engineering of the production system• Improvement metadata dissemination• Estimation of consistent bilateral migration flows / single

country estimates• Testing of migration forecasting models• Possibly additional breakdowns / circular migration• Identification best practices in data integration for

measuring migration (TF UNECE)• Critical review of population and migration definitions• Inclusion of harmonized migration variables in the core set

for EU social surveys



Thank you for the attention!Do you wish to discuss it further? You are welcome to contact me at: [email protected]



Migration statistics in Eurostat - Definition, statistical production and dissemination

Data & Analytics

Transcript of Migration statistics in Eurostat - Definition, statistical production and dissemination