ASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's Potential Net Migration Index finds Singapore, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and Kuwait atop the list of countries that could see the highest net adult population growth from international migration. If all adults worldwide who desire to migrate permanently to other countries actually moved where they wanted today, each country would see their adult populations double or even triple.
A Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI) score is the estimated number of adults who would like to move permanently out of a country if the opportunity arose, subtracted from the estimated number who would like to move into it, as a proportion of the total adult population. The initial index released in 2009 was based on 135 countries and about 260,000 interviews conducted between 2007 and mid-2009. The latest results include 148 countries or areas surveyed through early 2010 and a total of about 350,000 interviews.
The higher the resulting positive PNMI value, the larger the potential net adult population gain. For example, in Switzerland, subtracting the estimated 800,000 Swiss adults who would like to move to another country if they had the opportunity from the 10 million adults who would like to move to Switzerland and dividing that number by the total Swiss adult population (6 million) results in a PNMI value -- or a net adult population gain -- of +150%.
Except for Switzerland and Kuwait, which are new to the index, the list of countries with the highest positive index scores remains relatively unchanged from the first release. The United States, the top desired destination among all potential migrants, continues to place farther down the list, after Canada and several other developed nations. It's important to keep in mind, though, that a country's population size affects how high or low its index score is and its ranking.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/08/20/where_would_people_live_in_a_borderless_world
