Foreign born


Foreign-born people are those born outside of their country of residence. Foreign born are often non-citizens, but many are naturalized citizens of the country in which they live, and others are citizens by descent, typically through a parent.
The term foreign born encompasses both immigrants and expatriates but is not synonymous with either. Foreign born may, like immigrants, have committed to living in a country permanently or, like expatriates, live abroad for a significant period with the plan to return to their birth-country eventually.
The status of foreign born — particularly their access to citizenship — differs globally. The large groups of foreign-born guest workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, for example, have no right to citizenship no matter the length of their residence. In Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, by contrast, foreign born are often citizens or in the process of becoming citizens. Certain countries have intermediary rules: in Germany and Japan it is often difficult but not impossible for the foreign born to become citizens.

Definition

The adjective foreign-born has two potential meanings:
  • "born in a country other than that in which one resides."
  • "foreign by birth."
The United Nations uses the first definition to estimate the international migrant stock, whenever this information is available. In countries lacking data on place of birth, the UN uses the country of citizenship instead.
On the other hand, the United States Census Bureau defines foreign-born as "anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth", which includes persons who have become U.S. citizens through naturalization but excludes persons born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or parents.
According to the UN: "Equating international migrants with foreign citizens when estimating the migrant stock has important shortcomings. In countries where citizenship is conferred on the basis of jus sanguinis, people who were born in the country of residence may be included in the number of international migrants even though they may have never lived abroad. Conversely, persons who were born abroad and who naturalized in their country of residence are excluded from the stock of international migrants when using citizenship as the criterion to define international migrants."

Trends by country

The percentage of foreign born in a country is the product mostly of immigration rates, but is also affected by emigration rates and birth and death rates in the destination country. For example, the United Kingdom and Ireland are destination countries for migrants from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia, but are themselves source countries for immigration to other English-speaking countries.
The Holy See is unique in having 100% of its population foreign-born. The region with the highest rate of foreign-born residents is Oceania, with 21%, while Asia has less than 1%.
Countries with immigration rates above 25% tend to be wealthy countries with relatively open migration or labour laws, including Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland and the Persian Gulf states.
The largest foreign-born population in the world is in the United States, which was home to 39 million foreign-born residents in 2012, or 12.6% of the population.

Countries with the largest foreign-born populations

Direct figures on Pakistan's total foreign-born population are unavailable. However, estimates for specific immigrant communities can be found, which are as follows: 8.4% - 10% Indians, 1.6% - 2% Afghans, 1% Bengalis, 0.1 - 0.2% Burmese

Metropolitan and urban regions with the largest foreign-born populations

  1. Data for the cities listed below is from numerous sources.
RankMetropolitan region /
urban area		CountryForeign-born populationSources of immigrants
1New York metropolitan areaUnited States5,892,000China, India, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Ecuador, Guyana, Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Italy, Colombia, Poland, Russia, Pakistan, Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Greece
2London and the home countiesUnited Kingdom5,623,701India, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, Pakistan, Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, China, France, Ghana, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, United States, Greece, Kenya, Canada
3Los Angeles Metropolitan AreaUnited States5,541,000Mexico, Philippines, El Salvador, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Iran, Armenia, India, Taiwan, Nigeria, Colombia, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada
4Greater Toronto AreaCanada3,231,295India, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Italy, Iran, United Kingdom, Guyana, Portugal, Vietnam, Poland, South Korea, United States, Trinidad and Tobago, Iraq, Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Egypt, Nigeria, Greece, Romania
5Paris metropolitan areaFrance3,041,148Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Romania, Turkey, China, Italy, Mali, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Cameroon, Martinique, Ivory Coast
6Hong Kong Hong Kong2,793,450China, Indonesia, Philippines, Macau, Thailand, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Japan, United States, Canada
7San Francisco Bay AreaUnited States2,634,270Mexico, China, Philippines, Vietnam, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, South Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Japan, Nicaragua
8Sydney Greater Capital City Statistical AreaAustralia2,071,872China, United Kingdom, India, New Zealand, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka
9Miami metropolitan areaUnited States1,949,629Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Canada, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Panama, Peru, Argentina
10Melbourne Greater Capital City Statistical AreaAustralia1,801,139India, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Greece, Philippines, South Africa, Hong Kong, Afghanistan
11Chicago metropolitan areaUnited States1,625,649Mexico, India, Poland, Philippines, China, Palestine, Ukraine, Italy, Guatemala, Lithuania, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago
12Brussels Urban AreaBelgium1,441,600France, Romania, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, DR Congo, Guinea
13Singapore Singapore1,305,011Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Myanmar, South Korea
14Berlin Urban AreaGermany1,231,500Turkey, Russia, Poland, Syria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, France, Vietnam, United Kingdom
15Metro VancouverCanada1,222,460Hong Kong, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, Poland, United Kingdom, Italy, United States
16Greater MontrealCanada1,184,620Algeria, Morocco, Romania, France, Haiti, Lebanon, Philippines, Vietnam, Italy, China, India
17Moscow Russia1,128,035Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus
18Houston metropolitan areaUnited States1,113,875Mexico, El Salvador, Vietnam, India, Nigeria, China, Honduras, Philippines, Myanmar, Guatemala, Colombia
19Metropolitan DubaiUnited Arab Emirates1,056,000India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom
20Riyadh Saudi Arabia1,054,000Arab League, Pakistan, India, African Union, Bangladesh, Iran
21Washington metropolitan areaUnited States1,017,432El Salvador, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Korea, Nigeria, Philippines, Vietnam, Ghana, Bolivia
22Dallas–Fort Worth metroplexUnited States1,016,221Mexico, India, Vietnam, El Salvador, China, South Korea, Honduras, Philippines
23Frankfurt Urban AreaGermany998,400Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Russia, North Macedonia
24Tokyo Urban AreaJapan978,172China, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, United States, Brazil, Nepal, Taiwan, Peru, Thailand
25Santiago Metropolitan RegionChile938,904Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Haiti, Argentina
26Birmingham Urban AreaUnited Kingdom902,438India, Pakistan, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, China, Italy, Albania, Nigeria, Somalia
27Barcelona Urban AreaSpain862,200Italy, Pakistan, China, Ecuador, Bolivia, Morocco, France, Honduras, Argentina
28Atlanta metropolitan areaUnited States861,208Mexico, India, Jamaica, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia
29Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical AreaAustralia731,198New Zealand, England, China, India, South Africa, Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Scotland, Malaysia
30Stockholm CountySweden681,538Iraq, Finland, Poland, Iran, Syria, Turkey, India, Ukraine, China, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Chile, Somalia, Pakistan, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, Thailand, Ethiopia, Greece, United States, Romania
31Auckland Urban AreaNew Zealand662,298United Kingdom, China, India, Fiji, Samoa, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka
32MuscatOman571,000Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
33Amsterdam metropolitan areaNetherlands554,530Morocco, Turkey, Suriname, Poland, Ghana, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Germany, India, Curacao
34MadridSpain512,218Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru
35Calgary Metropolitan RegionCanada488,740India, Pakistan, Philippines, United States, Nigeria, China, Lebanon, Vietnam, United Kingdom, South Korea, Iran, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Germany, European Union
36Milan Urban AreaItaly475,000Egypt, Philippines, China, Romania, Sri Lanka
37Edmonton Metropolitan RegionCanada389,490China, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Lebanon
38National Capital Region (Canada)Canada349,005Italy, Pakistan, India
39PhoenixUnited States346,430Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines, Germany, Romania, Vietnam, Bosnia and Herz., Ethiopia
40Hamburg Metropolitan RegionGermany332,473Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Italy, Spain, Ghana
41San DiegoUnited States325,819Philippines, China, Mexico
42Greater ManchesterUnited Kingdom302,000Pakistan, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Poland, Nigeria, India, Somalia, Jamaica, Iraq
43Winnipeg Metropolitan RegionCanada238,170China, United Kingdom, Lebanon, United States, India, Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Syria, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Egypt, Italy, Iraq, DR Congo, Germany, Jamaica, Russia, Hong Kong
44HelsinkiFinland213,290Russia, Estonia, Somalia, Iraq, Sweden, China, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, India, Turkey
45PhiladelphiaUnited States179,444Ukraine, China, Dominican Republic, Liberia, Vietnam, Jamaica, Mexico
46BostonUnited States161,740China, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cape Verde, Russia, India
47Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan RegionGermany132,684Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Italy, Spain
48SeattleUnited States105,154China, Mexico, Somalia, South Korea, Philippines, Russia, Colombia, Ukraine
49CharlotteUnited States96,734China, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, India, Honduras
50DenverUnited States95,985Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia, Germany, Ethiopia, Guatemala
51GenevaSwitzerland77,602France, Spain, Germany