Germany recorded a decline of just over six percent in permanent immigration in 2025 compared with the previous year. While the number of international students increased by 45 percent, humanitarian migration fell by 35 percent, according to the OECD's International Migration Outlook, published on Thursday. Across OECD countries, permanent immigration declined by 1.6 percent to 6.1 million people.
In Germany, labour migration also increased by 40 percent. The OECD attributes this rise to more flexible immigration pathways for skilled workers. With a total of 538,000 immigrants, Germany ranked second behind the United States, which recorded 1.23 million immigrants, followed by Spain with 460,000.
Germany also remained the leading OECD destination for people fleeing Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, having taken in 1.2 million Ukrainians.
Overall, permanent immigration to OECD countries declined for the second consecutive year. However, it remained at a historically high level, still 12.5 percent above the figure recorded in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. Alongside Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States also recorded declines in permanent immigration, of 32 percent and 14 percent respectively.
By contrast, southern European countries experienced significant growth. In Portugal, the number of immigrants increased by 139 percent, which the OECD attributes primarily to the processing of pending applications.
Italy recorded an increase of 46 percent, mainly driven by labour migration and family reunification. In Spain, immigration rose by 25 percent, supported by the regularisation of the residency status of immigrants without valid documents.
Family reunification remained the most important immigration channel across OECD countries, accounting for 45 percent of all permanent immigration. The share of labour migration increased to 20 percent, while humanitarian migration fell by 10 percent.
According to the OECD report, people with an immigrant background are well integrated into the labour market. Their average employment rate stands at 71 percent, higher than that of native-born workers, whose employment rate in the EU is 68 percent.
Migrants already make up a significant proportion of the care workforce in several OECD countries. The organisation warns that ageing populations will increase the demand for care workers while simultaneously reducing the available workforce. However, differing requirements and recognition procedures make cross-border mobility for care workers more difficult, the OECD explained.
The organisation therefore recommends improving working conditions and career advancement opportunities, as well as providing long-term prospects for residence, to help secure the care workforce.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), headquartered in Paris, currently has 38 members, most of which are industrialised countries. The OECD regularly publishes statistical reports and studies on conditions in its member countries and provides governments with policy recommendations.
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