Immigration supported growth in developed countries last year, a period marked by severe labor shortages, says the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in a report published Thursday.
“The year 2023 was marked by particularly significant immigration flows in certain OECD economies,” writes the international organization in its report, citing in particular the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain and Australia.
“This development has had positive effects on the labor supply, and generally benefited GDP growth”, through the growth of the active population, continues the Paris-based institution.
The strongest contributions of immigration to labor force growth were seen in Portugal, Ireland, Canada, Spain and Australia, each with a contribution of more than 1.5 points, statistics show of the OECD.
For most of the states analyzed, this contribution is much higher than the average level of contribution recorded between 2010 and 2019.
For France, the contribution of foreign-born labor to the growth of the active population was almost 0.5 points.
The global economy has been hit hard since the COVID-19 pandemic by an increase in labor shortages, both in the euro zone and in the United States and Japan, show OECD figures released Thursday .
The positive or negative contribution of immigration to the economy is a subject regularly discussed against a backdrop of security and identity debate, and the subject of numerous analytical works.
In 2021, the Economic Analysis Council (CAE), an organization which depends on Matignon, affirmed that qualified immigration was a “benefit” to be developed for the French economy.