Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

2008 FSM International and Interstate Migration Report now Available

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): June 8, 2009 - The Division of Statistics of the Office of Statistics, Budget and Economic Management, Overseas Development Assistance and Compact Management (SBOC) has released the latest migration report. The data in this publication are collected by the Immigration Office and are based on the declared information by all persons, FSM and non-FSM citizens, arriving into and departing from FSM and each of the states. The report contains information on the international and interstate migration for each state by year, month, purpose of visit and departure and citizenship.

According to this report, a total of 19,146 FSM national arrivals were recorded compared to 21,543 departures, resulting in a net emigration of 2,397. The four main purposes of FSM-citizen departures were; Visiting of friends/family (34%), Employment (24%), Study (11%), and Returning resident (10%).

The report further showed that the main destination of non-FSM citizen arrivals were Pohnpei and Chuuk, accounting for 38% and 34% of arrivals, respectively. Furthermore, "Tourism & Visitor" is the main reason for non-FSM citizen arrival. About 62% of the 2008 arrivals came to either tour the country or visit relatives and friends. The second main reason for arrival in the FSM is for business or employment, as reported by about 20% of arrivals.

This 2008 publication has been improved from previous reports by additionally presenting; i) departures of both FSM and non-FSM citizens, ii) arrivals of FSM Citizens, and iii) age and gender distributions.

This information will soon be available on the Statistics Website: http://www.spc.int/prism/country/fm/stats.

For further information regarding this information, please contact Mr. Mathew Chigiyal, Assistant Director for Statistics at (691) 320-2823 or at fsmstat@sboc.fm.