Migration Types: Internal, International, and Seasonal
Migration is the movement of people from one place to another to live, either permanently or for a long period, and its main types are internal migration (within a country), international migration (across national borders) and seasonal migration (regular movement at certain times of the year). In brief: a farmer’s child moving from a village to the capital is an internal migrant, a nurse moving from the Philippines to Canada is an international migrant, and a worker who travels each summer to pick fruit in another country is a seasonal migrant. Net migration equals immigrants minus emigrants.
Migration changes the size, age structure and culture of both the places that people leave and the places they reach. This guide explains the key terms, the main types of migration and how they differ, compares them in a table, works through example calculations of net migration and migration rates, outlines the history of human migration and corrects common mistakes.
What are the key terms of migration?
An immigrant is a person who moves into a country, and an emigrant is a person who leaves one. The same person is both, depending on the point of view. Net migration is the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants in a year. When it is positive, the country gains population through migration. A migration stream is a large flow between two places, and a counterstream is the smaller flow in the opposite direction.
Migration can also be described by its duration (permanent, temporary or circular), by whether it is voluntary or forced and by the reason for it, such as work, education, family or safety. Tourists and short-term visitors are normally not counted as migrants.
What is internal migration?
Internal migration happens within the borders of one country. It is the most common form of migration worldwide, and in many countries involves far more people than international movement. The best-known pattern is rural-to-urban migration, where people leave farms and villages to find jobs, education and services in cities. It has driven the rapid growth of cities in China, India, Brazil and Nigeria, and it was central to the Industrial Revolution in Europe.
Other patterns include urban-to-rural movement (counterurbanization), suburbanization (movement from city centers to the edges), retirement migration to coastal or warm regions, and regional moves toward areas with better jobs, such as from the north to the south of a country. Governments sometimes organize internal migration, for example by settling people in new regions.
What is international migration?
International migration crosses a national border. According to United Nations estimates, there were about 280 million international migrants in 2020, which is around 3.6% of the world population, a share that has increased only slowly. Major destination countries include the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Kingdom, and large origin countries include India, Mexico, Russia, China and Syria.
International migrants include labor migrants, students, family members who join relatives, skilled professionals, refugees and people without legal documents. Their movement is shaped by laws on visas, work permits and citizenship, as well as by distance, language, networks of earlier migrants and the cost of travel. Migration within regions, such as within the European Union’s free movement area, is more common than migration between continents.
What is seasonal migration?
Seasonal migration is a regular, temporary movement that follows the cycle of the year. Examples include farm workers who move to harvest fruit and vegetables, workers in tourism who move to ski resorts in winter and beach resorts in summer, and people who go to work in construction during the dry season and return home for planting. Transhumance is the seasonal movement of herders and their animals between summer mountain pastures and winter valleys, as in the Alps, the Pyrenees and parts of Africa and Asia. Nomadic groups also follow seasonal patterns. Because workers return to their home each year, this form is often called circular migration.
Migration types compared
| Feature | Internal | International | Seasonal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Border crossed | No | Yes | Sometimes |
| Duration | Often permanent | Permanent or long-term | Temporary, repeated |
| Main reasons | Jobs, services, housing | Work, study, family, safety | Harvests, tourism, grazing |
| Example | Village to city | Mexico to the United States | Fruit pickers, herders |
| Main effect | City growth, rural decline | Changes in population and culture | Temporary labor supply |
Worked example: net migration
- Net migration: in one year, a country receives 220,000 immigrants and 140,000 people emigrate. Net migration = 220,000 − 140,000 = +80,000.
- Net migration rate: the rate is net migration ÷ population × 1,000. For a population of 20 million, 80,000 ÷ 20,000,000 × 1,000 = 4 per 1,000 people.
- Total population change: if there are also 250,000 births and 180,000 deaths, natural increase is 250,000 − 180,000 = 70,000. Total change = 70,000 + 80,000 = 150,000, so migration accounts for 80,000 ÷ 150,000 = 53% of the growth.
- Gross migration: the gross (total) flow is immigrants plus emigrants: 220,000 + 140,000 = 360,000, which is much larger than the net figure and shows how many people actually moved.
- Share of migrants: if 2.4 million of 20 million residents were born abroad, the share is 2,400,000 ÷ 20,000,000 = 12%.
- Seasonal workers: if 30,000 workers come for 4 months, they fill the equivalent of 30,000 × 4 ÷ 12 = 10,000 full-year jobs.
What is the history of migration?
Humans have always moved. Modern humans spread from Africa to other continents over tens of thousands of years. In historic times, peoples migrated in waves, such as the Bantu expansion in Africa and the movements of Germanic, Slavic and other groups in Europe. From the 16th century, European colonization led to transatlantic migration, including the forced movement of millions of enslaved Africans. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, tens of millions of Europeans emigrated to the Americas and Oceania. After 1945, labor migration brought workers to western Europe, and from the late 20th century, the oil-producing Gulf states recruited large numbers of foreign workers. The geographer Ernst Ravenstein formulated early “laws of migration” in the 1880s, and migration is still a central issue in politics and development.
Which mistakes are common?
Mistake 1: Thinking that most migration is international
Internal migration involves far more people. Most movers stay within their own country.
Mistake 2: Confusing net and gross migration
Net migration is the balance. A small net figure can hide very large flows in both directions.
Mistake 3: Mixing up emigrant and immigrant
An emigrant leaves a country. An immigrant arrives in a country. A person can be both, depending on the viewpoint.
Mistake 4: Calling all migrants refugees
A refugee is a specific legal category of person who fled persecution or conflict. Many migrants move for work, study or family reasons.