| Abstract: | Abstract. The availability and international comparability of migration statistics pose a severe handicap to analysis and policy debate. This paper explores a few of the underlying policy and conceptual issues at stake and identifies some of the institutional factors contributing to the slow and uncertain in progress in this field. Three main issues are discussed: the statistical definitions of migration; the administrative sources of data; and the international initiatives to improve the comparability of statistics. At the beginning of the 1990s the context appears promising for a renewed effort of national and international organizations and statistical agencies. New opportunities and challenges for the improvement of migration statistics are being developed. |
