Globalization and international migration in the Twenty-first century

Abstract

This research aims to explore the elationship between globalisation, human development indicators, and the volume of international migration. The research starts from the question of how globalisation and human development variables affect the variation in migrant flows to major economies. The research relied on a descriptive analytical approach through the analysis of quantitative data from a sample of ten immigration-receiving countries (the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and others).

The importance of the results lies in their accurate statistical disclosures, as the analysis showed a wide variation in the volume of migration between countries, with the United States accounting for the largest share (50.6 million migrants), driven by the strength of its huge economy. In contrast, the data revealed important insights into the different motives. In Western countries (such as Germany and the United Kingdom), there was a strong positive correlation between a high globalisation index (more than 88 points) and human development index (HDI) and the number of immigrants, confirming that quality of life is the main driver of permanent migration. However, the figures revealed a different pattern in oil-producing countries (Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), where the gap in per capita income (which reached $68,578 in the UAE compared to $14,391 in Russia) played a compensatory role for the differences in globalisation indices, making financial motives the main attraction. The research concludes that migration in the 21st century is no longer one-dimensional, but rather a complex result of the interaction between globalisation, quality of life and economic strength.