Economists have warned countries which have weathered the pandemic well face a lasting economic drag from the global collapse in skilled migration which will stunt the growth of their working-age population.
Data collated by The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development seems to show the coronavirus crisis ended a decade’s steady growth in flows of migrants around the world.
Although few countries have published figures for 2020 as a whole, Jean-Christophe Dumont, who leads research on migration at the Paris-based organization, said the year-on-year drop in inward flows to rich countries ranged from 30 per cent up to 70 or 80 per cent in those such as Australia and New Zealand that closed their borders almost completely.
With many countries now tightening border controls, migration in 2021 will be "far from normal," he said, and "could well be similar to 2020 if things don’t get better quickly."
Migrants bear the brunt of this, from workers unable to take up jobs and family members kept apart, to students forced to defer courses and refugees stuck in camps.
Economists also say there will also be lasting effects for countries which have in recent years relied on a steady influx of newcomers to fill jobs, sustain growth in the labour force, boost the education sector and offset the fiscal burden of an aging population.
