MANILA—THE Philippines is sixth leading source of migrants going to countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
OECD’s 2011 International Migration Outlook showed that an estimated 161,000 Filipinos that went to OECD-member countries is behind the Chinese (468,000), Romanians (255,000), Indians (226,000), Polish (204,000) and Mexicans (180,000).
The data cover the year 2009, when OECD countries received 3.118 million overseas migrants (Filipinos make up 3.2 percent of the total figure).
The data cover permanent and temporary migration.
The 3.118 million though was lower than the 3.65 million that went to OECD countries, which the OECD said is reflective “of lower demand for workers… for the second consecutive year after a decade of growth”.
The decline is markedly seen in Asian OECD countries and in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
In contrast, permanent migration to Australia, Canada and the United States increased slightly in 2009.
Temporary migration for work, for its part, declined by 17 percent in 2009 as the said mode of migration was “especially susceptible to shifting demand”.
The decline of foreigners going to OECD countries matches with the data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the government agency handling labor migration or migration for temporary contract work,
Deployment of new-hire and re-hire overseas workers to these OECD countries declined by 9.34 percent year-on-year —given the 91,083 deployment figure in 2010 and the 101,039 number in 2009.
Major OECD countries of destination that saw a drop in deployment of Filipino workers include: Australia (-16.74 percent), Canada (-19.94), Ireland (-26.73), Korea (-21.24), New Zealand (-7.39), the United Kingdom (-25.27) and the United States (-40.70).
In contrast, Greece (9.42 percent), Israel (10.64), Italy (10.52), and Spain (15.43) experienced deployment spikes in 2010.
OECD countries are mostly destination countries for permanent migration, as most temporary migrants go to Middle East and East Asian economies.
Table: Deployment of temporary migrant workers to OECD countries, 2009 and 2010
|
OECD country |
2010 |
2009 |
Growth (%) |
|
Australia |
5,915 |
7,104 |
-16.74 |
|
Austria |
65 |
66 |
-1.52 |
|
Belgium |
186 |
228 |
-18.42 |
|
Canada |
13,885 |
17,344 |
-19.94 |
|
Chile |
47 |
60 |
-21.67 |
|
Czech Republic |
111 |
210 |
-47.14 |
|
Denmark |
270 |
88 |
206.82 |
|
Estonia |
6 |
1 |
500.00 |
|
Finland |
205 |
190 |
7.89 |
|
France |
248 |
221 |
12.22 |
|
Germany |
117 |
90 |
30.00 |
|
Greece |
2,300 |
2,102 |
9.42 |
|
Hungary |
11 |
5 |
120.00 |
|
Iceland |
38 |
27 |
40.74 |
|
Ireland |
3,317 |
4,527 |
-26.73 |
|
Israel |
4,941 |
4,466 |
10.64 |
|
Italy |
25,595 |
23,159 |
10.52 |
|
Japan |
5,938 |
6,418 |
-7.48 |
|
Korea |
11,697 |
14,851 |
-21.24 |
|
Luxembourg |
20 |
22 |
-9.09 |
|
Mexico |
116 |
137 |
-15.33 |
|
Netherlands |
865 |
584 |
48.12 |
|
New Zealand |
1,403 |
1,515 |
-7.39 |
|
Norway |
898 |
744 |
20.70 |
|
Poland |
124 |
219 |
-43.38 |
|
Portugal |
83 |
92 |
-9.78 |
|
Slovak Republic |
5 |
5 |
0.00 |
|
Slovenia |
18 |
13 |
38.46 |
|
Spain |
3,262 |
2,826 |
15.43 |
|
Sweden |
56 |
48 |
16.67 |
|
Switzerland |
236 |
232 |
1.72 |
|
Turkey |
116 |
126 |
-7.94 |
|
United Kingdom |
5,284 |
7,071 |
-25.27 |
|
United States |
3,705 |
6,248 |
-40.70 |
|
OECD-wide total |
91,083 |
101,039 |
-9.85 |
(by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO – OFW Journalism Consortium)
