DEMIG DATA

Generating new theoretical and empirical insights into the way states and policies shape migration processes in their interaction with other migration determinants.

DEMIG C2C Data

The DEMIG C2C (country-to-country) database contains bilateral migration flow data for 34 reporting countries and from up to 236 countries over the 1946–2011 period. It includes data for inflows, outflows and net flows, respectively for citizens, foreigners and/or citizens and foreigners combined, depending on the reporting countries. The DEMIG C2C database was compiled through extensive data collection and digitalisation of historical national statistics as well as current electronic sources. It provides a unique opportunity to construct migration flows from many origin countries to the 34 reporting countries, as well as return flows.

The DEMIG C2C (country-to-country) database was compiled between 2010 and 2013 as part of the DEMIG project (Determinants of International Migration: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of Policy, Origin and Destination Effects). It tracks data for 34 reporting countries and up to 236 countries by citizenship, birth or origin/destination for the period between 1946 and 2011.

DEMIG C2C contains data that have been reported by the respective national statistical offices since the post-Second World War period, either in printed or electronic format. As a result, the data have undergone a significant process of digitalisation, format standardisation and verification. However, data have largely been retained as reported by national statistical offices, with the exception of a minimum amount of harmonisation of names of countries, residuals and aggregates to simplify and reduce the list of countries.

The DEMIG C2C database is provided in an Excel file which includes three separate worksheets: Inflows, Outflows and Net Flows. Each worksheet contains data for all reporting countries, years, criteria, coverage, collection method and gender. Please refer to the DEMIG C2C General country notes and codebook for more detailed information on the data, definitions, codes and some important tips on how to use specific codes (i.e. OTH, OTHA, AGG and TOT). Users must read carefully these notes as they provide important information on how to ‘filter’ the data in order not to overcount migration flows.

This table provides an overview of the countries reported in DEMIG C2C, the criteria available (i.e. country of residence, citizenship and birth), types of flows (i.e. inflows, outflows and net flows), coverage (i.e. citizens, foreigners, both merged), gender as well as collection methods. For more detailed information on these items, please refer to DEMIG C2C Detailed country notes and sources. For the rationale guiding the compilation of the DEMIG C2C, refer to the working paper Uncovering international migration flow data: Insights from the DEMIG databases, Simona Vezzoli et al, (2014), IMI Working Paper Series, 88.

NOTE: For copyright reasons a Limited Online Edition only of DEMIG C2C can be released publicly. The table below refers to the data included in DEMIG C2C Limited Online Edition.

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG C2C for your research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG C2C, version 1.2, Limited Online Edition. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford. www.migrationinstitute.org

The DEMIG databases are protected under Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases.

The database has been compiled by the DEMIG team, in particular by Simona Vezzoli and María Villares-Varela with the long-term support of Olinka Caunerova and Anaïs Resseguier.

Data Downloads

The database and its accompanying documents are available for free download.

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG C2C for your research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG C2C, version 1.2, Limited Online Edition. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

The DEMIG databases are protected under Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases.

The database has been compiled by the DEMIG team, in particular by Simona Vezzoli and María Villares-Varela with the long-term support of Olinka Caunerova and Anaïs Resseguier.

Overview of database content

DEMIG C2C Migration Flow Database: Excel file containing the complete database, Limited Online Edition

DEMIG C2C General country notes and codebook: document including information of definitions used in each national dataset and coverage of year, citizens and foreigners, types of flows, collection method, etc. as well as important descriptions of codes and filtering suggestions

DEMIG C2C Detailed country notes and sources: Sources and specific notes for each country dataset

Vezzoli, S., Villares-Varela, M., de Haas, H. (2014) Uncovering international migration flow data: Insights from the DEMIG databases offers insights into the rationale for data collection, compilation, categorisation and verification.

DEMIG POLICY data

DEMIG POLICY tracks more than 6,500 migration policy changes enacted by 45 countries around the world mostly in the 1945-2013 period. The policy measures are coded according to the policy area and migrant group targeted, as well as the change in restrictiveness they introduce in the existing legal system. The database allows for both quantitative and qualitative research on the long-term evolution and effectiveness of migration policies.

DEMIG POLICY was compiled between 2010 and 2014 as part of the DEMIG project (Determinants of International Migration: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of Policy, Origin and Destination Effects). It tracks 6,500 migration policy changes (both immigration and emigration) in 45 countries, most of them enacted in the 1945-2013 period.

DEMIG POLICY assesses for each policy measure whether it represents a change towards more restrictiveness (coded +1) or less restrictiveness (coded -1) within the existing legal system. Besides this main assessment of change in restrictiveness, every policy change is also coded according to the policy area (border control, legal entry, integration, exit), policy tool (recruitment agreements, work permit, expulsion, quota, regularization, resettlement, carrier sanctions, etc.), migrant group (low- and high-skilled workers, family members, refugees, irregular migrants, students etc.) and migrant origin (all foreign nationalities, EU citizens, specific nationalities etc.) targeted.

The database has been compiled by the DEMIG team, in particular by Katharina Natter, Simona Vezzoli and Hein de Haas, and reviewed by national migration policy experts.

Data Downloads

The database and its accompanying documents are available for free download.

The database is downloadable for free in the following formats:

Stata: Complete dataset for 45 countries, except the full descriptions of policy changes.

Excel: Country datasets including the full descriptions of policy changes and codes.

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG POLICY for your qualitative or quantitative research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG POLICY, version 1.3, Online Edition. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

If you update or complement any aspect of DEMIG POLICY (countries, years, policy dimensions, migrant groups) for your own research, please get in touch with us. In the spirit of sharing data collection efforts with the entire academic community, we would like to make the additional data available on this homepage as an add on to DEMIG POLICY for which you will of course be credited.

The DEMIG databases are protected under Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases.

Accompanying documents

In order to correctly use the DEMIG POLICY database, we advise you to carefully study the following accompanying documents:

DEMIG POLICY Overview gives an insight into the data available for each country.
DEMIG POLICY Codebook provides detailed definitions of the codes used, as well as the respective numerical codes used in stata.
DEMIG POLICY Sourcebook provides a complete bibliography of the sources used.

The following two articles offer insights into the data collection process, the rationale of the coding system developed for DEMIG POLICY, as well as its limitations:

de Haas, H., Natter, K. and Vezzoli, S. (2014) Compiling and coding migration policies: Insights from the DEMIG POLICY database. IMI Working Paper Series 87. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.
de Haas, H., Natter, K. and Vezzoli, S. (2015) Conceptualizing and measuring migration policy change. Comparative Migration Studies 3(15)

Country Files (excel)

COMPLETE DATSET (STATA)

Main limitations of DEMIG POLICY

The focus of DEMIG POLICY was the post-1945 period, therefore historical policy changes are less comprehensively tracked.
The focus of DEMIG POLICY was national policy making, therefore supra-national policies such as bilateral agreements are not comprehensively recorded (with the exception of post-WWII recruitment agreements) and sub-national policies are not tracked at all.
The focus of DEMIG POLICY on migration policy change is due to its underlying aim to analyze the evolution and effectiveness of migration policies. DEMIG POLICY allows performing cross-country comparisons of the change in migration policy restrictiveness over time. It does however not allow comparing absolute levels of migration policy restrictiveness between countries at a given point in time.

Time Coverage

Before or since 1850

Argentina
Canada
Chile
France
Mexico
New Zealand
United States

Since 1900

Australia
Brazil
South Africa
United Kingdom

Since 1918

Austria
Belgium
Czechoslovakia (until 1990)
Finland
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Italy
Russia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Yugoslavia

Since 1945

China
Denmark
German Democratic Republic
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Japan
Luzembourg
Morocco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
South Korea

Since 1990

Czech Republic
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Ukraine

DEMIG TOTAL data

DEMIG TOTAL reports immigration, emigration and net migration flows for up to 161 countries covering various periods of time from the early 1800s to 2011, disaggregating total flows of citizens and foreigners whenever possible. The database allows for quantitative analysis of the long-term evolution of international migration.

DEMIG TOTAL was compiled as part of the DEMIG project (Determinants of International Migration: A Theoretical and Empirical Assessment of Policy, Origin and Destination Effects). The database reports immigration, emigration and net migration flows collected from various sources for up to 161 countries covering various periods of time from the early 1800s to 2011, disaggregating total flows of citizens and foreigners whenever possible.

DEMIG TOTAL follows a simple layout and is made available in Excel format. For a complete overview of the years of data coverage, view the DEMIG TOTAL Overview Table.

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG TOTAL for your research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG TOTAL, version 1.5. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford. www.imi-n.org

The DEMIG databases are protected under Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases.

The database has been compiled by Simona Vezzoli.

Data downloads

DEMIG TOTAL follows a simple layout and is made available in Excel format.

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG TOTAL for your research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG TOTAL, version 1.5. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

The DEMIG databases are protected under Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases.

DEMIG TOTAL (full database in Excel) includes all data as well as a summary of all data included, definitions and sources
DEMIG TOTAL Overview Table gives an insight into the data available for each country, by continent.
DEMIG TOTAL Codebook provides a list and definitions of the codes used in the database.

Number of countries covered by continent:

Europe: 45

Africa: 31

America: 41

Asia: 32

Oceania: 12

Before 1900: 37

Since 1900: 19

Since 1940: 5

Since 1950: 30

Since 1960: 48

Since 1970: 11

Since 1980: 11

DEMIG VISA data

DEMIG VISA is a new database that tracks annual bilateral travel visa requirements for 237 nationalities in 214 countries over the 1973–2013 period. The database was developed as part of the ERC-funded DEMIG project (2009-2014) at the University of Oxford. DEMIG aimed at generating new theoretical and empirical insights into the way states and policies shape migration processes in their interaction with other migration determinants.

DEMIG VISA captures both entry visa and exit permit requirements, based on data reported in the Travel Information Manuals published monthly by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). To provide consistency, the data reflects visa and permit requirements in January of each year.

DEMIG VISA contains over 4 million data points. The information tracked includes a) country of visa issuance, b) nationality of the traveller, c) year for the visa requirements, d) policy measure (visa entry and/or exit permit). The database is provided in Excel format. The data is coded as follows: 0 if visa/exit permit is not needed; 1 if visa/exit permit is needed; 2 if individuals of a particular country are not allowed to this country (“blacklisted”).

The database accounts for changes in country configurations (creation, unification and dissolution) over time by leaving respective cells blank when countries did not yet exist or ceased to exist. For countries with dependent territories, unless stated otherwise, we assumed a visa exemption applies to all the dependent territories.

Although the IATA manuals offer detailed information about the length of time travellers can stay in the country of entry, DEMIG VISA does not distinguish between visa exemptions for different lengths of stay. Concerning the types of passports tracked, this database only records visa and exit requirements for regular passport holders. Hence, exemptions for diplomatic or any other official passports, as well as requirements when travelling for business purposes have not been recorded. We have also not tracked visa exemptions for holders of residence permits in the country of visa issuance, which for instance applies to holders of residence permits in the Schengen area who are allowed to travel within the Schengen area.

Users are advised to carefully read the DEMIG VISA Accompanying Notes file for detailed information on content, coding rules and country-specific notes. A separate Excel file outlines the data coverage.

The database is available to download here: surfdrive.

Download DEMIG VISA Database Coverage (excel)

Download DEMIG VISA Accompanying Notes (pdf)

If you draw on information tracked in DEMIG VISA for your research, please cite the database in the following way:

DEMIG (2015) DEMIG VISA, version 1.4, Full Edition. Oxford: International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

The compilation of the DEMIG VISA database is part of the Determinants of Migration (DEMIG) project and has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement 240940. Additional funding for data compilation has been received from the Oxford Martin School. We thank Olinka Caunerová and Anais Resseguïer for their assistance and their commitment to entering and verifying the data.