According to new data from the United Nations, the foreign‐born share of the U.S. population ranked 56th in the world. Among wealthy countries in 2020, its ranking has fallen from the 43rd percentile to the 26th percentile since 2000. Its ranking for per capita growth in foreign‐born population since 2015 was even lower: the 13th percentile. The United States is clearly becoming less competitive for talent internationally.
Figure 2 shows foreign‐born share in every country with a GDP per capita of $35,000 or more. It makes sense to focus on this group of countries because these are the places that immigrants would be naturally most interested in reaching. Of the 47 countries, the United States sits at number 35 (26th percentile). This has fallen from the 43rd percentile in 2000, and that is with a significant assist from its unusually large illegal immigrant population. Including only legal immigrants would drop the U.S. percentage to 40th of the 47 wealthiest countries. The median for the group of countries is 21.4 percent (Canada). The United States is about 28 million immigrants short of the median foreign‐born share for wealthy countries.
Another way to visualize the United States falling behind in the global competition for labor is in Figure 4: the share of the increase in immigrants in wealthy countries from the increase in immigrants in the United States. From 1995 to 2000, the United States accounted for nearly half of the increase in immigrant population in wealthy countries. From 2015 to 2020, the U.S. percentage had dropped to 12 percent—with 0 percent from 2019 to 2020 (in fact, the U.S. immigrant population slightly declined that year). Overall, immigrants are becoming much more likely to choose other wealthy countries rather than the United States. Other countries are expanding immigration opportunities, while the United States has kept the same basic immigration law with the same outdated caps since 1990.