Abstract

Coherence between household surveys and population censuses in measuring international migration is crucial because it ensures the accuracy, reliability, and comparability of data, which are foundational for effective migration policy and evidence-based decision-making. While censuses provide comprehensive, detailed geographical data on international migration and migrant groups, surveys offer in-depth data for analyzing the recent trends, determinants, dynamics and consequences of international migration. However, international migration is often defined differently from one country to another, and sometimes from one source to another within the same country, due to the complexity of the migration process.
Mediterranean Household International Migration Survey (MED-HIMS) methodology was revised based on the recently revised international recommendations on measuring international migration. Main objective is to ensure the alignment between concepts and definitions used in household surveys and population censuses. This alignment will improve data comparability across data sources within a country and will allow accurate comparison of migration flows and stocks.
The revised MED-HIMS methodology provides key concepts and definitions related to migration stocks and flows in line with the recent international recommendations. The methodology emphasizes the importance of adopting standard definition for households in surveys as it is used in the population census that will serve as a sampling frame for migration surveys. This methodology also presents a set of common questions that can be used for both household surveys and population censuses to identify immigrants, refugees, return migrants and emigrants in a coherent way to ensure data produced from these sources are comparable.