Governments within wealthy nations are increasingly utilizing citizenship policies to define and enforce integration expectations for migrants, according to the 50th annual international migration outlook published this week by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The Paris-based international organization, which promotes global trade and market economies, characterizes the current landscape of integration policy as entering a phase that is both more constrained and politically contested.
Several factors have contributed to this shift, including tight public budgets, mounting pressure on public services and housing, and a diminished political appetite for broad-based investments in integration. These challenges have effectively slowed reform efforts and altered their fundamental nature. Legislative changes observed across many of the 38 OECD member countries during 2025 and 2026 highlight a trend toward more stringent conditions. These requirements now frequently emphasize language proficiency, civic knowledge, fiscal contribution, residence duration, and self-sufficiency.
Specific examples of this tightening include Germany’s removal of its fast-track route to citizenship and Sweden's implementation of higher requirements regarding knowledge of the local language and society. Mark Pearson, OECD Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, noted at the UK presentation of the report that while labor market integration remains the principal objective, schemes are becoming increasingly selective. There is a marked focus on achieving rapid entry into the workforce, a trend particularly pronounced in Nordic countries. Pearson observed a north-south gradient in these efforts, noting that the further north one travels in Europe, the greater the effort made by policymakers to facilitate rapid labor market integration.
Civic integration is simultaneously becoming more prominent, with stronger mandates concerning shared values and civic knowledge. France has introduced a civic exam for initial multi-year residence permit applications, while Austria has implemented new orientation and values courses. Sweden is also exploring the feasibility of an 'Integration Barometer,' a survey designed to measure social cohesion factors such as trust in institutions, democratic participation, social networks, language use, belonging, and perceptions of discrimination. Despite these trends, Pearson highlighted the Spanish experience of regularizing large numbers of migrants as a notable policy exception aimed at improving rapid integration.
The scale of migration remains significant, even as trends fluctuate. In 2025, OECD countries recorded 6.1 million new permanent immigrants, marking a 1.6 percent decline from the previous year. While this represents a second consecutive drop, levels remain historically high, sitting 12 percent above those recorded in 2019. The United States remains the leading destination for permanent migrants, followed by Germany, Spain, Canada, and France. While major destinations like the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, and Austria saw declines, Southern European nations such as Portugal and Italy experienced strong growth, largely driven by regularizations, the processing of pending applications, and expanded labor migration opportunities.
Family reunification remains the primary driver of migration, accounting for 2.4 million new permits in 2025, with the United States issuing 952,000 of these. Conversely, student mobility saw a decline, dropping from 2.1 million to 1.6 million between 2024 and 2025, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia, while numbers remained stable in the UK. European nations, notably Austria, Germany, and Italy, continued to attract growing numbers of international students. The OECD estimates that over 3 million people acquired the nationality of a member country in 2005. The largest number was registered in the United States at 895,000, followed by Germany at 309,000, Spain at 300,000, Canada at 294,000, and the United Kingdom at 235,000.
Labour migration represented 20 percent of the total, and humanitarian migration 10 percent, marking a significant decline in the latter category.
