The 3rd International Forum on Migration Statistics (IFMS 2023) was organized by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Statistics and Population Divisions, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Recordings of all the sessions are available on the official forum website here.

Calls to improve migration data to formulate evidence-based migration policies and inform public discourse have become increasingly strong. However, basic data on the stocks, flows, and characteristics of international migrants, as well as on the causes and impacts of international migration remain scarce or are not utilized to their full potential in many countries. The IFMS 2023 provided a unique opportunity to discuss ways to improve the collection, analysis, and use of migration data worldwide, to fill existing migration data gaps and to better inform policy making.

As in the two previous fora, this event mobilised expertise from a range of disciplines, such as statistics,economics, demography, sociology, geospatial science, and information technology. The IFMS 2023 brought together producers and users of migration statistics from national and international statistical offices, other government agencies, international organizations, academia, civil society, and the private sector.