Foreign born

For the band, see Foreign Born.

For broader coverage of this topic, see Nationality law.

Foreign-born (also non-native) 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."^[1]
• "foreign by birth."^[2]

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.^[3]

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."^[3]

Trends by country

See also: List of sovereign states and dependent territories by immigrant population

See also: Effects of immigration to the United States § Science and engineering

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, while Cuba is unique in having 0% of its population foreign-born. The region with the highest rate 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.^[4]

Countries with the largest foreign-born populations

Rank[5]	Country	Region	Percentage of Foreign-born Population	Largest Foreign-born Group
1	United Arab Emirates	Greater Middle East	88.52%[6]	Indian
2	Qatar	Greater Middle East	81.3%[7]	Indian
3	Kuwait	Greater Middle East	69.1%[8]	Indian
4	Bahrain	Greater Middle East	54.6%[9]	Indian
5	Saudi Arabia	Greater Middle East	37.37%[10]	Indian
6	Lebanon	Greater Middle East	23%[11]	Syrian
7	Canada	North America	23%[12]	Indian
8	Sweden	Northern Europe	19.6%[13]	Syrian
9	Germany	Western Europe	18%[14]	Turk
10	United Kingdom	Northern Europe	14%[15]	Indian
11	United States	North America	13.9%[16]	Mexican
12	Pakistan	Greater Middle East	13.2%	Indian
13	Turkey	Greater Middle East	7.18%[citation needed]	Syrian
14	Brazil	South America	1.00%[citation needed]	Venezuelan
15	India	South Asia	0.4%[17]	Bangladeshi

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 (i.e., Muhajirs from India and their descendants),^[18] 1.6% - 2% Afghans,^[19] 1% Bengalis,^[20] 0.1 - 0.2% Burmese^[21][22]

Countries with largest refugee populations

Rank[5]	Country	Region	Refugees Hosted
1	Iran	Greater Middle East	3.8 million[23]
2	United States	North America	3.6 million[24]
3	Turkey	Greater Middle East	3.1 million[23]
4	Pakistan	Greater Middle East	3.1 million[25]
5	Colombia	South America	2.8 million[23]
6	Germany	Western Europe	2.7 million[23]
7	Uganda	East Africa	1.7 million[23]
8	Lebanon	Greater Middle East	1.5 million[26]

Cities with largest foreign born populations

Rank	City	Country	Region	Estimate date and source (where available)	Foreign-born population	Percentage	Country of origin of the largest foreign-born group
1	London	United Kingdom	Northern Europe	ONS 2021	3,576,000[27]	40.6%	India
2	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	Greater Middle East	Government of Dubai 2021	3,200,000[28]	91.4%	India
3	New York	United States	North America	2022 ACS	3,133,149[29]	36.3%	Dominican Republic
4	Sydney	Australia	Oceania	2021 Australian Census	2,260,410[30]	43.2%	China
5	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	Greater Middle East	2014	2,173,000[31]	80%	India
6	Kuwait City	Kuwait	Greater Middle East	2018	2,088,000[32][33]	69.6%	India
7	Melbourne	Australia	Oceania	2021 Australian Census	1,970,614[34]	40.1%	India
8	Doha	Qatar	Greater Middle East	2021	1,768,000[35][36]	88.4%	India
9	Lima	Peru	South America	2023 United Nations Office of Peru	1,586,880[37]	17.5%
10	Toronto	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	1,431,380[38][a]	51.9%	India
12	Los Angeles	United States	North America	2022 ACS	1,395,920[39]	36.0%	Mexico
13	Brisbane	Australia	Oceania	2021 Australian Census	799,645[40]	31.7%	India
14	Montréal	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	790,960[41][a]	40.9%	France
15	Berlin	Germany	Western Europe	Berlin-Brandenburg office of statistics, 2021	789,076[citation needed]	21%	Turkey
16	Vienna	Austria	Western Europe	City of Vienna 2023	778,454[42]	31.3%	Serbia
17	Madrid	Spain	Southern Europe	2019 Spain Census	726,669[citation needed]	22.2%	Morocco
18	Auckland	New Zealand	Oceania	Statistics New Zealand 2018	714,480[citation needed]	41.6%	India
19	Houston	United States	North America	2022 ACS	664,495[43]	28.9%	Mexico
20	Peshawar	Pakistan	Greater Middle East	2005	611,501[44][45]	19.7	Afghanistan
20	Chicago	United States	North America	2022 ACS	550,888[46]	20.2%	Mexico
21	Calgary	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	457,665[47][a]	35.4%	Philippines
22	San Jose	United States	North America	2022 ACS	410,543[48]	41.0%	Mexico
23	Mississauga	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	406,455[49][a]	57%	India
24	Brampton	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	383,695[50][a]	59.1%	India
25	São Paulo	Brazil	South America	2019	362,340[citation needed]	3%	Venezuela
26	Bogotá	Colombia	South America	2019	352,431[citation needed]	5%	Venezuela
27	San Diego	United States	North America	2022 ACS	344,419[51]	24.9%	Mexico
28	Edmonton	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	348,295[52][a]	34.9%	India
29	Hamburg	Germany	Western Europe	2021 ACS	341,759[citation needed]	24.7%	Turkey
30	Milan	Italy	Southern Europe	Istat 2011	324,378[53]	10.7%	Egypt
31	Vancouver	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	317,190[54][a]	48.8%	China
32	Birmingham	United Kingdom	Northern Europe	ONS 2021	305,963[citation needed]	25.6%	Pakistan
33	Ottawa	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	288,835[55]	28.9%	China
34	San Francisco	United States	North America	2022 ACS	288,169[56]	33.9%	China
35	Surrey	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	285,620[57][a]	50.8%	India
36	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Western Europe	Statistics Netherlands 2019	277,431[citation needed]	32.1%	Turkey
37	Miami	United States	North America	2022 ACS	256,805[58]	57.9%	Cuba
38	Stockholm	Sweden	Northern Europe	Statistics Sweden 2019	248,708[citation needed]	25.5%	Syria
39	Lyon	France	Western Europe	France Unité urbaine de Lyon, INSEE 2020	235,969[citation needed]	14%	Algeria
40	Winnipeg	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	231,135[59][a]	31.4%	India
41	Santiago	Chile	South America	2017 Census	212,037[citation needed]	10.2%	Venezuela
42	Marseille	France	Western Europe	Unité urbaine de Marseille-Aix, INSEE 2020	193,740[citation needed]	12%	Algeria
43	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Western Europe	Statistics Netherlands 2019	184,218[citation needed]	28.6%	Turkey
44	The Hague	Netherlands	Western Europe	Statistics Netherlands 2019	176,183[citation needed]	32.8%	Indonesia
45	Manchester	United Kingdom	Northern Europe	ONS 2021	173,208[citation needed]	31.4%	Pakistan
46	Oslo	Norway	Northern Europe	Statistics Norway 2019	171,868[citation needed]	25.2%	Pakistan
47	Gothenburg	Sweden	Northern Europe	Statistics Sweden 2019	159,342[citation needed]	27.5%	Iraq
48	Hamilton	Canada	North America	Canada 2021 Census	158,190[60][a]	28.2%	Italy
49	Copenhagen	Denmark	Northern Europe	Statistics Denmark 2022	134,409[citation needed]	26.3%	Turkey
50	Malmö	Sweden	Northern Europe	Statistics Sweden 2019	118,323[citation needed]	34.4%	Iraq
51	Helsinki	Finland	Northern Europe	Statistics Finland 2021	102,016[citation needed]	15.5%	Russia

Metropolitan and urban regions with the largest foreign-born populations

1. Data for the cities listed below is from numerous sources.

Rank[5]	Metropolitan region / urban area	Country	Foreign-born population	Sources of immigrants
1	New York metropolitan area	United States	5,892,000[61]	China, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Ecuador, Guyana, Philippines, South Korea, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti, Italy, Colombia, Poland, Russia, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Cuba, Nigeria, Ghana, Greece
2	London and the home counties	United Kingdom	5,623,701[27]	India, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, Pakistan, Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, China, France, Ghana, Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, USA, Greece
3	Los Angeles Metropolitan Area	United States	5,541,000[61]	Mexico, the Philippines, El Salvador, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Armenia, Iran, India, Nigeria, Colombia
4	Toronto Greater Golden Horseshoe	Canada	3,507,895[62]	India, 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
5	Paris metropolitan area	France	3,041,148[63]	Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, Romania, Turkey, China, Italy, Mali, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Cameroon
6	Hong Kong (SAR)	Hong Kong	2,793,450	China, Indonesia, Philippines, Macau, Thailand, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, Japan, United States, Canada
7	San Francisco Bay Area	United States	2,634,270[64][65]	Mexico, China, Philippines, Vietnam, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, South Korea, Taiwan, Iran, Russia, Japan, Nicaragua
8	Sydney Greater Capital City Statistical Area	Australia	2,071,872[66]	China, United Kingdom, India, New Zealand, Vietnam, Philippines, South Korea, Lebanon, Sri Lanka
9	Miami metropolitan area	United States	1,949,629	Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Canada, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Panama, Peru, Argentina
10	Melbourne Greater Capital City Statistical Area	Australia	1,801,139[67]	India, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Italy, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Greece, Philippines, South Africa, Hong Kong
11	Chicago metropolitan area	United States	1,625,649	Mexico, India, Poland, Philippines, China, Palestine, Ukraine, Italy, Guatemala, Lithuania, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago
12	Brussels Urban Area	Belgium	1,441,600	France, Romania, Morocco, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany
13	Berlin Urban Area	Germany	1,231,500	Turkey, Russia, Poland, Syria, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, France, Vietnam, United Kingdom
14	Singapore (city only)	Singapore	1,305,011	Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Myanmar, South Korea
15	Montreal Urban Area	Canada	1,184,620	Algeria, Morocco, Romania, France, Haiti, Lebanon, Philippines, Vietnam, Italy, China
16	Vancouver Lower Mainland	Canada	1,155,210	Hong Kong, China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, Poland, United Kingdom, Italy, United States
17	Moscow (city only)	Russia	1,128,035	Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus
18	Houston metropolitan area	United States	1,113,875	Mexico, El Salvador, Vietnam, India, Nigeria, China, Honduras, Philippines, Myanmar, Guatemala, Colombia
19	Metropolitan Dubai	United Arab Emirates	1,056,000	India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom
20	Riyadh (city only)	Saudi Arabia	1,054,000	Arab League, Pakistan, India, African Union, Bangladesh, Iran
21	Washington metropolitan area	United States	1,017,432	El Salvador, China, Ethiopia, Mexico, South Korea, Nigeria, Philippines, Vietnam, Ghana, Bolivia
22	Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex	United States	1,016,221	Mexico, India, Vietnam, El Salvador, China, South Korea, Honduras, Philippines
23	Frankfurt Urban Area	Germany	998,400	Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Russia, North Macedonia
24	Santiago Metropolitan Region	Chile	938,904	Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Haiti, Argentina
	Tokyo Urban Area	Japan	978,172	China, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, United States, Brazil, Nepal, Taiwan, Peru, Thailand
	Birmingham Urban Area	United Kingdom	902,438	India, Pakistan, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Poland, Bangladesh, Romania, China, Italy, Albania, Nigeria, Somalia
25	Barcelona Urban Area	Spain	862,200	Italy, Pakistan, China, Ecuador, Bolivia, Morocco, France
26	Atlanta metropolitan area	United States	861,208	Mexico, India, Jamaica, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia
27	Brisbane Greater Capital City Statistical Area	Australia	731,198	New Zealand, England, China, India, South Africa, Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Scotland, Malaysia
28	Auckland Urban Area	New Zealand	662,298	United Kingdom, China, India, Fiji, Samoa, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka
29	Stockholm County	Sweden	660,302[68]	Finland, Iraq, Poland, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Eritrea, Afghanistan
30	Muscat	Oman	571,000	Philippines, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
31	Amsterdam metropolitan area	Netherlands	554,530	Morocco, Turkey, Suriname, Poland, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Germany, India
32	Milan Urban Area	Italy	475,000	Egypt, Philippines, China, Romania, Sri Lanka
33	Greater Calgary	Canada	460,790	India, Pakistan, Philippines, United States, Nigeria, China, Lebanon, Vietnam, United Kingdom, South Korea, Iran, Hong Kong, Ethiopia, Germany, European Union
34	Greater Edmonton	Canada	363,825	China, Pakistan, India, Somalia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Lebanon
35	Hamburg Metropolitan Region	Germany	332,473[69]	Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Italy, Spain, Ghana
36	Greater Manchester	United Kingdom	302,000	Pakistan, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Poland, Nigeria, India, Somalia, Jamaica, Iraq
37	Ottawa	Canada	266,910	Italy, Pakistan, India
38	Helsinki	Finland	213,290[70]	Russia, Estonia, Somalia, Iraq, Sweden, China, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, India, Turkey
39	Winnipeg	Canada	207,915	China, United Kingdom, Lebanon, United States, India, Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Syria, Haiti, Iran, Somalia, Egypt, Italy, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Jamaica, Russia, Hong Kong
40	Hannover–Braunschweig–Göttingen–Wolfsburg Metropolitan Region	Germany	132,684	Turkey, Serbia, Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Italy, Spain
41	Geneva	Switzerland	77,602	France, Spain, Germany

See also

• Alien (law)
• Expatriate
• Immigration
• Naturalization
• Finishing school
• Foreign-born Japanese
• Immigrant generations

Notes

1. Statistic includes all persons classified as 'Immigrants' and 'Non-permanent residents' on census.
   
   Statistics Canada defines 'Immigrants' as "persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. Such persons have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category."
   
   Statistics Canada defines 'Non-permanent residents' as "persons from another country with a usual place of residence in Canada and who have a work or study permit or who have claimed refugee status (asylum claimants). Family members living with work or study permit holders are also included, unless these family members are already Canadian citizens, landed immigrants or permanent residents."