Greater share of world's migrants live in the EU than in the U.S. % of internationalmigrants living in
The United States has long been the top destination country for migrants worldwide, though if the European Union, Norway and Switzerland were a single country it would outrank the U.S. as a destination for international migrants. But the U.S. and Europe are quite different when it comes to their migrant populations’ origin countries.
In 2015, almost one-in-five (19%) of all international migrants – people living in a country other than the one they were born in – lived in the U.S., and 23% were in the EU, Norway and Switzerland. Together, some 43% of all the world’s international migrants live in the U.S. or Europe, according to the United Nations Population Division. (The UN counts citizens born abroad or in their native country’s territories as international migrants. For the U.S., this means international migrants include U.S. citizens at birth who were born abroad, in Puerto Rico or in other U.S. territories.)
The U.S. has long been a receiving country for international migrants, and Europe historically was a sending region. For most of the 20th century, either Germany or Italy was the top country of origin of migrants living in the U.S. A century ago, from 1890 to 1919, almost nine-in-ten foreign-born people arriving to the U.S. (88%) were coming from Europe, compared with just 12% of migrants who arrived since 1965. About 46.6 million immigrants now live in the U.S., making up a near-historic 14% of the U.S. population, according to UN data – but as of 2015, only about one-in-ten immigrants living in the U.S. (9%) were born in the EU, Norway and Switzerland.
Greater share of world's  | migrants live in the EU  | than in the U.S.  | % of internationalmigrants living  | in  | U.S.  | 19  | EU Norway &  | 23  | Switzerla nd  | Note: The UN counts migrants who are  | citizens ofa country born a broad orinits  | territories as intema tional migrants  | Source: United Nations Population Division,  | 2015.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 