This event will present a new dataset that enables the study of the volume, directions, and changes in global human mobility between 1995 and 2022. Researchers' estimates reveal that total transnational mobility increased from 4.87 billion trips in 1995 to 9.64 billion in 2019, largely outpacing global population growth.
Across the board, international migration constitutes a tiny fraction of transnational travel (less than 1% worldwide and as low as .15% in Europe). The rise of transnational mobility has been particularly sustained in East and South-East Asia. This region was, however, also the hardest hit by Covid-19 travel restrictions and their aftermath, which brought its flows in 2022 back to mid-1990s levels.
Findings show most border crossings are intra-regional, especially in Europe. Despite the widespread growth in volume, the global network of cross-border mobility has not significantly changed its overall configuration around nine major clusters in more than a quarter of a century. Germany stands out as the main hub in Europe and globally, followed by the US and China. However, some regional clusters of mobility have split and others have merged, with individual countries shifting between clusters. Join the event for more insights into this dataset, which can be used to study global phenomena in fields such as migration, tourism studies, sustainability, epidemiology, international economics, and international relations. This dataset has been created as part of the MIGMOBS project.