Germany’s Federal Foreign Office and the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) for IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched in December 2017 the Migration Data Portal in Berlin. The Migration Data Portal brings together the key facts and figures about global migration trends in one place for the first time. The Portal aims to serve as a unique access point to timely, comprehensive migration statistics and reliable information about migration data globally.

The site is designed to help policy makers, national statistics officers, journalists and the general public interested in the field of migration to navigate the increasingly complex landscape of international migration data, currently scattered across different organisations and agencies. Especially in critical times, such as those faced today, it is essential to ensure that responses to migration are based on sound facts and accurate analysis. By making the evidence about migration issues accessible and easy to understand, the Portal aims to contribute to a more informed public debate.

The Portal is managed and developed by GMDAC, with the guidance of its Advisory Board, and was supported in its conception by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Portal is supported financially by the Governments of Germany, the United States of America and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

The idea to develop such a portal was first discussed in 2015 during the final GFMD Summit in Istanbul as well as in 2016, at the 2nd Berlin Roundtable on Refugees and Migration.