ISLAMABAD: Wealthier countries are increasingly cautious about migration while lower-income nations tend to view cross-border movement more positively, according to the 2025 end-of-year survey released by Gallup Pakistan, an affiliate of the Gallup International Association.
The survey, conducted across 60 countries between October and December 2025, highlights a widening divide in global attitudes towards emigration and immigration. Globally, more people believe emigration harms their country than benefits it. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said emigration is beneficial, while 37 percent said it hurts, resulting in a net global score of –10.
Countries affected by conflict reported particularly negative views. In Ukraine, 63 percent said emigration harms the country, compared with 11 percent who see it as beneficial. Similar sentiments were recorded in Iraq (69 percent say it hurts) and Syria (47 percent say it hurts).
Overall, 34 out of 60 countries surveyed said emigration harms their country more than it helps. Greece registered the strongest opposition to emigration (–87 percent), followed by Serbia (–68 percent), Estonia (–56 percent), Ukraine (–51 percent), Lithuania (–50 percent) and Armenia (–48 percent).
By contrast, global opinion on immigration is modestly positive. Forty percent of respondents said immigration benefits their country, while 33 percent said it hurts, producing a net global score of +7.
At the national level, 34 of the 60 countries surveyed consider immigration a net benefit. The strongest opposition to immigration was recorded in Serbia (–46 percent), Turkey (–46 percent), Peru (–40 percent) and Iraq (–33 percent).
Meanwhile, the most supportive countries were Syria (+74 percent), Kenya (+73 percent), Ghana (+62 percent), Thailand (+53 percent) and Pakistan (+51 percent). Support for both immigration and emigration was most evident in lower- and middle-income countries.
Kenya showed the strongest support for emigration (+69 percent), followed by Georgia (+59 percent), Kosovo (+40 percent), the Philippines (+39 percent) and Ecuador (+39 percent).
Regionally, Europe and North East Asia stood out for more cautious views. Emigration net scores were –29 in North East Asia, –17 in Western Europe and –20 in Eastern Europe. Immigration net scores were –10 in North East Asia, 0 in Western Europe and +2 in Eastern Europe.
In contrast, immigration net scores were significantly higher in Africa (+51), South Asia (+27), Australia (+19) and the Arab world (+17). Michael Nitsche, President of the Gallup International Association, said attitudes towards migration are closely tied to perceptions of economic opportunity and national development.
“Migration has, therefore, become more than a political issue. It reflects broader questions of competitiveness, social cohesion, and future security,” Nitsche said. The End-of-Year Survey 2025 gathered responses from 59,423 people on emigration and 59,429 on immigration, with approximately 1,000 respondents per country. Survey methods included telephone interviews (CATI), online surveys (CAWI) and face-to-face interviews, using quota sampling, random probability sampling and limited non-probability samples.
