The 2024 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development International Migration Outlook report has shown that the top three nationalities for the Health and Care visa for 2023 were Indians, Nigerians, and Zimbabweans.

In a statement issued recently but made available to The Tide on Saturday, the Health and Care visa is a skilled worker visa available for those who are taking on a role in eligible health or social care jobs or who are qualified doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, or adult social care professionals.

The OECD’s annual publication analyses recent developments in migration movements and policies in its countries. Each edition provides the latest statistical information on immigrant stocks and flows, immigrants in the labour market, and migration policies.

It said in 2023, migration to OECD countries reached record levels for the second year in a row, as not only have 6.5 million permanent migrants arrived in the last year but the number of temporary migrants and asylum seekers have skyrocketed.

The increasing migration flows raise legitimate concerns, according to the report, but they also point to major opportunities.

It noted that buoyant labour demand in host countries has been a key driver of migration over the past two years, and international cooperation on migration is gradually progressing.

It added that in many OECD countries facing widespread labour shortages and looming demographic changes, growing numbers of labour migrants have contributed to sustained economic growth.

The increasing migration flows raise legitimate concerns, according to the report, but they also point to major opportunities.

It noted that buoyant labour demand in host countries has been a key driver of migration over the past two years, and international cooperation on migration is gradually progressing.

It added that in many OECD countries facing widespread labour shortages and looming demographic changes, growing numbers of labour migrants have contributed to sustained economic growth.

The report read, “The United Kingdom is the other country where family migration soared, with 373,000 new family migrants in 2023, a 60 per cent increase compared to 2022. Seventy percent of family migrants in the United Kingdom were accompanying family members of labour migrants.

“The Health and Care visa for accompanying family members accounted for the bulk of the increase. Indeed, more than half of family migrants who settled in the United Kingdom in 2023 benefited from this visa (203,000, against 81,000 in 2022). Starting March 2024, new care workers under the Health and Care visa are no longer eligible to sponsor accompanying dependents.

“The top three nationalities for the Health and Care visa were Indians (58,000,+75 per cent compared to 2022), Nigerians (51,000, +204 per cent), and Zimbabweans (25 100, +153 per cent).”

On contrasting trends in permanent-type labour migration across OECD countries, the report revealed that permanent labour migration to OECD countries remained at a high level in 2023 with just under 1.2 million workers, as in 2022.

“Almost a quarter of these migrant workers went to the United Kingdom (282 000, 48 per cent more than in 2022) of which more than half were health professionals issued a “Skilled worker visa – Health and care”. In 2023, Canada admitted 145,000 workers as permanent residents (+seven per cent), including 52,000 through Provincial Nominee Programs (+37 per cent).

“A record number of approximately 93,000 migrant workers settled in Germany in 2023. Several other countries registered record figures for permanent labour migration in 2023, including Japan and France (90,000 and 59,000, respectively), and Korea and Greece, although at lower levels (13,000 and 12,000, respectively).

“Labour migration to the United States (excluding accompanying family) fell quite sharply in 2023 compared to 2022 (by -43 per cent, to 82,000). However, the overall level remained relatively high and higher than pre-2021 levels. Labour migration decreased from 2022 to 2023 in half of the observed countries, including New Zealand (-46 per cent), Ireland (-23 per cent), the Netherlands (-15 per cent), Estonia (-37 per cent), and Lithuania (-55 per cent), all of which had received record worker inflows in 2022.”