How many people migrate every year globally?

Establishing how many people in any given year move from one country to live in another, either temporarily or permanently, is extremely difficult. However, in 2015 it was estimated that worldwide, over 244 million people were living in a country outside their country of origin. Yet these are not annual migration figures because many of these people are likely to have been living in their adopted country for years. Because it is so difficult to make these calculations on an annual basis, what often happens is that the growth rates of migration are calculated instead. This gives a good idea of how many people are mobile and the routes this mobility takes. For example, the 244 million figure means that by 2015, 3.3% of the world population were living outside of their country of origin. In 2013, this figure was 3.2% and in 2000 it was 2.8%. Making calculations by percentages of the current population, rather than using actual population figures, means that the result derived at gives a more accurate reflection of the proportion of people who are on the move, rather than being part of a number which is rising incrementally. The majority of the immigrants live in developed regions such as Europe, Asia and North America and they move due to social or economic reasons rather than being refugees or migrating illegally.