1957 - United Nations Statistics Division

even when all these conditions are not fulfilled, the data
may be still useful for many purposes involving more
limited international comparability.
DESCRIPTION OF MIGRATION TABLES
Table 27
Statistics of international travellers classified in major
categories of departures and arrivals are presented for the
years 1951-1956 in Table 27. Together with corresponding
data for 1948-1953 shown in the 1954 Demographic
Yearbook, these statistics provide a summary of international
population movements for a period of nine
years.
The major categories of departures and arrivals listed in
the stub of Table 27 conform to those of the internationally
recommended nomenclature described on p. 44. In
order to save space, the full designation of the major
categories has not been repeated; for the same reason,
categories for which no data were available for a particular
country are not listed.
Further definitions of the major categories for the
various countries are given in footnotes when available.
In particular, they include explanations of the terms
"permanent" and "temporary" emigrants and immigrants.
In the absence of contrary indication, data include national
as well as alien travellers or migrants and relate to
both continental and intercontinental movements, in accordance
with paragraph 17 of the Recommendations.
If no other definition is given, it may be assumed that
the figures printed on the same line as a country name
represent the total departures or arrivals of international
travellers, with the exception of frontier traffic. In order
to facilitate the reading of the table, such figures have been
printed in bold type, whether or not a breakdown into
major categories was available.
In general, figures given for a special class of travellers
are included in those shown for one of the major categories
listed in the stub of Table 27, in conformity with paragraph
17 of the Recommendations. The few exceptions to
this practice are accounted for in footnotes or by the fact,
readily apparent in the table, that, for the particular
country and year, no major category is listed which can
include the group reported among special classes. In some
cases, several distinct groups are shown separately under
special classes because special interest attaches to them
from various points of view. Since total figures for special
classes would not in general be meaningful, they have not
been shown in the table, and the "not applicable" symbol
(.) has been entered in their place.
Coverage: Statistics for 71 geographic areas are shown in
Table 27. This is the most extensive coverage of the 5
migration tables.
Limitations: Since Table 27 constitutes the most extensive
tabulation of statistics on international population movements
given in the Demographic Yearbook, little can be
added to the observations presented above on the limitations
of these statistics in general. The table itself shows
the existing deficiencies with respect to geographic and
time coverage and scope of the data. It is seen that the
geographic coverage varies greatly according to the major
category considered. For example, only 8 countries present
data on frontier traffic, but 44 have data on perma-
46
nent emigrants or immigrants. The footnotes present
many examples of deviations from standard definitions,
such as exclusion of nationals or aliens, persons of certain
races, air travellers, continental or intercontinental
migrants. The value of the data for interpreting the
statistics of a particular country and for making international
comparisons is restricted by such limitations. It
is, however, necessary to evaluate in each case the numerical
importance of these restrictions in order to gauge
the weight that must be given to them.
Table 28
This table presents for the years 1953-1956 emigration
statistics, classified by country or territory of intended
permanent residence. These provide continuity with corresponding
series for 1950-1953 published in the 1954
DemograjJhic Yearbook.
The grand total of emigrants or departing travellers
for any country of emigration shown in Table 28 may, in
general, be readily identified in Table 27, and thus related
to a major category of departures. As the definitions and
other particulars of the major categories are available in
Table 27, they are not repeated in Table 28. The differences
that exist in a few cases between corresponding
figures in the two tables have been explained in every
instance.
The Roman numerals following the name of each
country of emigration indicate the source or method of
collection of the data, as is further explained on p. 43.
Except as otherwise indicated, data may be assumed to
be permanent emigrants classified by country of intended
permanent residence. The various definitions of "permanent"
are those given in Table 27. In the absence of
statistics for permanent emigrants, data relating to total
departures or to combinations of major categories are
shown, suitably described in footnotes.
Countries of intended permanent residence are the
standard group of 42 countries, arranged alphabetically
within continents. In accordance with paragraph 28 of
the Recommendations,61 a separate residual group designated
as "unspecified" is shown for each continent. This
is in addition to the "continent unknown" category
which includes emigrants for whom no intended residence
is reported. This arrangement facilitates the interpretation
of continental sub-totals in Table 28, and
makes the blocks of figures relating to each continent as
self-contained as available information allows. The
"unspecified" category of a particular continent includes
emigrants for whom only the continent of intended
residence is reported as well as emigrants intending to
reside in countries that are not listed in the stub of Table
28. If the number of emigrants involved in the last mentioned
case is significant, it is given in a footnote.
Separate figures are sometimes not available for two or
more neighboring or related countries of intended resi-
61 "The classification ... should be according to current national
boundaries. Cf. 'Recommendations for Censuses of Population to be
taken in or around 1950' in Report of the Population Commission,
Third Session (E/805, annex A, part II, paragraph 5). Total figures
relating to countries ... not shown separately should be given by
continents. The number of persons for whom no information is reported
should be given in a distinct group. The classification by continents
and countries should be based on the Nomenclature of Geographic
Areas for Statistical Purposes (United Nations, Statistical
Papers, Series M, No.1, 1949)."