The migration balance is the difference between immigration and emigration in a given region.
The migration balance is the difference between emigration and immigration in a certain region. To understand the concept, it is important to analyze the two terms that make it up.
The notion of balance can be used with reference to the result of an account or the conclusion derived from a certain analysis. Migratory , for its part, is that related to migration : the movement of people or animals between different territories.
How to calculate the immigration balance
To calculate the migration balance of a place, therefore, the number of emigrants (that is, the number of people who left the place to settle in other places) must be subtracted from the number of immigrants (the number of individuals who arrived from other places in order to settle in the new territory).
If we present it as a formula, it is expressed like this:
Immigration balance = Number of immigrants – Number of emigrants
The migration balance is usually associated with the economic situation, although other factors also have an impact.
Classification according to type
With this clear, we can say that the positive migration balance reveals that population entry exceeded population exit.
On the other hand, the negative migration balance means that the number of people who left is greater than the number of people who entered.
Let's see an example . A study determines that country X received 40,000 immigrants in the last year while, in the same period , 28,000 people decided to live in other nations. The immigration balance, in this way, is + 12,000 .
It is important to know that the migratory balance has nothing to do with the increase or decrease in the number of inhabitants of the region , since it does not include births or deaths.
Immigration balance in Spain
In Spain , for example, there was a notable change in the migration balance in the last decade as a result of the economic crisis. Thus, at one point it went from a positive balance to a negative one.
Specifically, according to the data that has appeared in different studies and statistics, it went from being positive in 2008 with +243,500 people , to negative from that moment on and during subsequent years. Thus, it is established that between 2008 and 2013 there was a reduction in admissions of 269,000 people per year . And that is without forgetting that, on the other hand, departures were promoted with a figure of about 200,000 individuals per year .
There are many causes that could explain this phenomenon. However, the most important, without a doubt, is the lack of work, which led to both the Spaniards themselves having to go abroad to find a job and the immigrants who had arrived having to return. to their homes or to go to other countries to find employment.
Another typology
In addition to all of the above, we cannot ignore that there are two types of migratory balances that refer to a specific region:
- The external one, which arises from the difference that exists between foreign immigrants and emigrants abroad .
- The internal , which is the balance that results from subtracting the emigrants who go to other regions from the number of immigrants received from other regions.