Migration statistics in Eurostat - Definition, statistical production and dissemination

Eurostat
Migration Statistics in
Eurostat
Definitions, statistical
production and dissemination
Giampaolo Lanzieri
EUROSTAT

Where are they produced within
Eurostat?
Directorate F
Social Statistics
Unit F1
Social
Indicators
Project:
Labour
migration
Unit F2
Population and
Migration
Team:
Demography,
Migration and
Projections
Team:
Census and
Managed
Migration
Unit F3
Labour Market
Project:
EU-LFS ad-hoc
module on
migrants
EU Workshop on Migration Data,
Ispra, 10 November 2016
G. Lanzieri: Migration Statistics in Eurostat2
- All citizenships
- Migration flows
- Migrants stocks
- Data providers: NSIs
- Only TCNs
- Asylum, RP, EIL statistics
- Integration (shared with F3)
- Data providers: Home Affairs
Directorate C
National
Accounts
Unit C5
Balance of
Payments
Project:
Personal
remittances
census data
on migrants
stocks

UN definitions
G. Lanzieri: Migration Statistics in Eurostat 3

Three EU legislative pillars
862/2007
Migration
1260/2013
Demography
763/2008
Pop. census

Who is a 'migrant'?

Statistical capture of migration
• Usually considered 2 elements to identify a
migration:
• The crossing of a border (space)
• The duration of stay abroad (time)
• Often neglected: the timing of the statistical
measurement
Different implementation of the concept of 'stay'

Reporting time and concepts of 'stay'
• Reporting time 1 (R1):
• the person is included in the migration flow of the year t if the
intention of stay is of at least one year
• the person is included if the intention of stay is of at least one
year, or considering an actual stay of 6 months + 1 day (most
of the year)
• the person is included if the actual stay is of at least one
(continuous) year or, in default, based on the intention of stay
measured at earlier time
time
1st half year t+1 2nd half year t+12nd half year t
R2 R3R1
arrival

'Actual' vs. 'intended' stay
• The 'intended stay' should be a proxy of the
'actual stay' used when:
• The timing of the reporting does not allow to
assess an actual stay of a year (R1 or R2 in the
example before)
• The data source cannot capture the information on
actual stay (e.g., survey of passengers at arrival)
• The 'intended stay' avoids the would-be migrant
to remain in a 'statistical limbo' for a year

The 'risk' of timeliness
Increasing need of timely information on 'would-be
migrants'
Earlier reporting (towards 'real-time')
Larger use of 'intention of stay'
Higher risk of mismatch 'intended'-'actual' stay

Confusing messages
• 'Media' language:
• arrival = asylum seeker = refugee = migrant = …
• 'Statistical' language:
• arrival ≠ asylum seeker ≠ refugee ≠ migrant ≠ …
• The farther one is from technicalities, the fuzzier
become the distinctions
Need to use consistent terminology

AS&R in migration statistics
• Variety of practices across MSs (Eurostat survey
2015)
• Recommended practice (consistent with
international recommendations):
• Inclusion in migration flows/stocks when the
actual stay is at least 12 months
• Acceptable approximation: inclusion in migration
flows/stocks once granted protection ('refugee'),
regardless of the length of actual stay

Eurostat annual data collections
• R1: DEMOBAL (demographic balance)
• R2: URESPOP (only UR total population)
• R3: NOWCAST (latest monthly data)
• R4: UNIDEMO (most comprehensive)
• D4: validation/dissemination UNIDEMO
Q1
time
year t
R1 R4R2stock R3 D4migration events
31.12 30.6 31.8
year t+1 year t+2
30.11 31.12

UNIDEMO data collection
• Mix of mandatory and voluntary data from 49 countries
• Deadline for transmission by the data provider is at the
end of year t+1 for:
• Migration flows occurred during year t
• Migrants stocks at the end of year t (disseminated as
stocks on 1.1.t+1)
• Dissemination in about 8 weeks
• Revisions possible at any time and for any year
• Migration data more reliable from 2008 onwards (entry
into force of the EU Regulation)

Volume of annual migration data
FOR EACH COUNTRY Nr of tables Figures collected of which mandatory
Migrants stocks 5 35 000 4 000
Immigration 11 102 000 5 000
Emigration 8 95 000 0
Acquisition of citizenship 2 31 000 16 000
Loss of citizenship 1 1 000 0
TOTAL 27 264 000 25 000
Total processed figures per year: ≈ 13 millions
of which mandatory < 10%

Data collected on migrants stocks
Nr of countries having provided data
Reference time 31.12.2014 ≡ 1.1.2015

Data collected on migration flows
Reference year 2014
Nr of countries having provided data

Validation
• Extensive set of validation rules (cross-checking
also with demographic variables) to be met
before data transmission to Eurostat is allowed
• Additional checks in the production database
• Interactive data visualization
• Metadata screening
• Regular meetings with NSIs (Eurostat WG on
Population Statistics) with quality reporting
• Every 3 years: official report to EP&C on quality

Examples of doubtful cases

Dissemination channels
• Direct dissemination:
• Eurobase (Eurostat database)
• Statistics Explained
• News releases
• Eurostat publications
• Users downloads Jan-Aug 2016: > 860 000
• Indirect dissemination
• Open data portals (e.g., EU Open Data Portal)
• Re-use by other institutions (publications, et.)

Eurostat dissemination policy
• All users are treated equitably
• Dissemination of statistics in a format convenient
for the widest range of users
• Custom-designed analyses and extractions are
provided when feasible and made public
• Access for everyone to the same information at
the same moment in time

Copyright
• Eurostat has a policy of encouraging free re-use of its
data, both for non-commercial and commercial
purposes.
• All statistical data, metadata, content of web pages or
other dissemination tools, official publications and
other documents published on its website (with some
exceptions http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/about/our-
partners/copyright), can be reused without any
payment or written licence provided that:
• the source is indicated as Eurostat;
• when re-use involves modifications to the data or
text, this must be stated clearly to the end user of
the information.

Looking ahead - ongoing projects
• Re-engineering of the production system
• Improvement metadata dissemination
• Estimation of consistent bilateral migration flows / single
country estimates
• Testing of migration forecasting models
• Possibly additional breakdowns / circular migration
• Identification best practices in data integration for
measuring migration (TF UNECE)
• Critical review of population and migration definitions
• Inclusion of harmonized migration variables in the core set
for EU social surveys

Thank you for the attention!
Do you wish to discuss it further? You are welcome to contact me at:
giampaolo.lanzieri@ec.europa.eu

Migration statistics in Eurostat - Definition, statistical production and dissemination

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