In the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), more than six million new permanent immigrants were recorded in 2022, excluding Ukrainian refugees. It follows from his report.International migration outlook for 2023“. FROM “record numbers“, states the OECD.

More than one in three of its member countries, including Belgium, has not experienced such an influx for at least 15 years.while several countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, have broken all-time records“, he comments.

Belgium welcomed 122,300 new permanent immigrants in 2022. According to OECD statistics, this represents an increase of 9% compared to 2021 and 7.3% compared to 2019, when the Covid-19 n pandemic had not yet weakened the global economy.

With more than two million new applications, asylum applications also reached “historical level in 2022“, adds the organization.”This increase is largely explained by a sharp increase in applications in the United States“, she said.

In Belgium, 32,140 files were handed over in 2022. Compared to the previous year, this is an increase of 64%, and compared to 2019, it is 39%. It places the flat country in 17th and 23rd place with the highest increase in the OECD.

The Belgian contingent of asylum seekers consisted mainly of Afghans, Syrians and Burundians. Finally, admissions for humanitarian reasons followed the same trend, including positive decisions on applications for international protection and arrivals for resettlement.

In Belgium, there were 11,005 in 2022, 10,120 in 2021 and 6,770 in 2019.