Repository of Practices
Primary GCM Objectives
Secondary GCM Objectives
GCM Guiding Principles*
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Dates
Summary
The International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS) Database in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region has been published annually since December 2014 as a special collection on the ILO’s central database, ILOSTAT. The process involves collection of statistics from official sources, mainly labour force surveys, censuses and administrative datasets, on the International Labour Migration Questionnaires (ILMQ) developed by the ILO.
The data is published on the ILOSTAT portal and is compiled also on the ILMS database in ASEAN website. The ILMS collection in ASEAN is supported by the ILO’s TRIANGLE in ASEAN programme, which is a partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the ILO.
The ILO’s TRIANGLE in ASEAN facilitates collection of ILMS data in ASEAN annually with the help of a network of ILMS focal specialists in national institutions in the ten ASEAN Member States (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam). This network of focal experts was established in 2013 and has met nearly annually since then. The 10th technical meeting of Focal Points on ILMS in ASEAN will be convened in November 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Overall, the ILO support to collecting ILMS in the ASEAN region involves:
- Nomination of ILMS focal points by national institutions producing labour migration data in each ASEAN Member States.
- Regular capacity building of national ILMS focal experts at annual regional technical meeting of focal points.
- Supporting focal points in completing the data collection templates circulated by ILO/STATISTICS.
- Technical support to improving national data sources: Labour force surveys, population censuses, administrative data.
- Supporting country level capacity building, coordination and harmonization.
The ILMS database was initially created in 1998 by ILO Department of Statistics, EUROSTAT, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and regularly updated to include data from 94 countries until 2006.[1] The ILO’s ASEAN TRIANGLE project reinvigorated the ILMS database for ASEAN in 2012 and has since then continuously highlighted the strategic importance of labour migration statistics in the region and beyond.[2] In July 2018, ILO Statistical Department’s decided to restart collection of ILMS at global level. Reinvigoration of the ILMS database at global level is important both for monitoring of progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national planning, and global evidence base on labour migration. TRIANGLE in ASEAN approach to supporting ILMS collection in the ASEAN region is often cited as a good practice, presented e.g. at the 3rd global International Forum for Migration Statistics (IFMS) in Santiago, Chile, in January 2023.
In 2022, TRIANGLE in ASEAN published an analytical report Measuring labour migration in ASEAN: Analysis from the ILO’s International Labour Migration Statistics (ILMS) Database, based on data from 2019 round of ILMS collection.
[1] ILO. Labour Migration Highlights No. 1. Labour migration statistics https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_384858.pdf.
[2] In 2012-2016, this work was supported by the ASEAN TRIANGLE project funded by Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (GAC). Since 2016, the ILMS Database in ASEAN is supported by the ILO TRIANGLE in ASEAN programme, which is a partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the GAC and the ILO.
Organizations
Main Implementing Organization(s)
Detailed Information
Benefit and Impact
As labour migration is an established feature in the ASEAN region, it is vital for the ASEAN Member States to generate basic data regularly and consistently on:
• number of migrant workers disaggregated by sex;
• what countries migrant workers come from;
• where they migrate to;
• in what sectors or occupations women and men migrants are employed;
• under what conditions they work; and,
• their skills and education profiles.
These elements are crucial for understanding the role and contributions of migrant workers in ASEAN labour markets and for informing policies to improve the protection of their rights and reintegration. International labour migration statistics provide precisely this information, and all data available from the region is presented in the report. The database also includes data on inflows of international migrant workers, outflows of labour migration from the ASEAN region as well as inflows of return migrant workers to the region.
Key Lessons
The report highlights the need for ongoing coordination and data sharing among Member States and offers solutions for expanding and improving data collection in line with the international standards. By providing the numbers to inform policy decisions, international labour migration statistics can benefit both countries of origin and destination, as well as the international women and men migrants currently living and working in the region and further afield.
The ILO tracks progress in member States’ ability to submit sex-disaggregated using the ILO’s International Labour Migration Questionnaire (ILMQ) on an annual basis. By the end of 2023, the completeness of the ILMS in ASEAN database was 58%. The remaining collection gaps relate mostly to national statistics systems not collecting data on some of the ILMS indicators; national sources not disaggregating data by migratory status; no sharing of national data; or infrequent production on data on labour migration at country level. Coverage of migrant workers in national survey samples, coordination among national authorities, and harmonization of methodologies also remain issues in some cases (ILO 2022). The ILO is addressing all these factors affecting quality of national data in the annual regional technical meeting of focal points and through country level capacity building activities.
Recommendations(if the practice is to be replicated)
Establishment of a network of focal specialists in national government institutions producing data on labour migration is recommended for collection of ILMS data in any region. Regular meetings among such networks are important for sharing updates on global updates on collection of labour migration statistics (e.g. guidelines of the International Conference of Labour Statisticians, measuring SDG indicators), reviewing current status of ILMS collection, identifying ways to improve data collection and sharing, improving coordination among data producing agencies, and facilitating sharing and peer support among ILMS focal points in the region. Successful collection of ILMS data requires also support to national focal points on timely submission of data tables as per requirements of ILO Statistics.
Innovation
Additional Resources
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*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of United Nations Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).