By Asdrubal Santana

With the exception of the UK, northern Europe is among the regions of the world most likely to have a positive view towards migration.

That was one of the conclusions from a new study commissioned by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Gallup World Poll.

The results of this study, conducted between 2012 and 2014 in over 140 countries, were launched this past October, and found that people in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden would welcome an increase in immigration to those countries.

In the UK, however, nearly seven out of every 10 people would prefer the opposite. In Ireland, most respondents said immigration should remain at current levels.

As a region, Europe comes across as the least supportive in the world. The report says 52 per cent of Europeans overall are in favour of seeing lower levels of immigration, with people in Greece, Malta and Italy – the main entry points to the continent for many migrants – having the most negative views.

Outside of Europe, Australia and New Zealand are the most positive about immigration, with only three in 10 or fewer wanting lower immigration levels. The IOM cites this as particularly interesting in the case of Australia, where “migrants have accounted for over 50 per cent of the population growth, over the past 10 years”.

In Canada and the United States – “the most desired destinations for migrants” according to the IOM – the majority of respondents were recorded as being favourable towards immigration, with 57 per cent overall favouring a retention of or even an increase in current levels.

A general positive sentiment about the free movement of people was also reported in regions such as Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, with the exception of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, most countries in Saharan Africa and South Africa, which has been notorious for xenophobic violence in recent years.

Asia, meanwhile, is the region where residents are the least likely to have any opinion on immigration, with 30 per cent of those questioned not responding. Among those who did share their views, most would prefer to see less foreigners coming in.

From a socio-demographic perspective, the report identifies that adults with university degrees are more favourable towards newcomers than those with lower levels of education.

“Younger age is generally associated with more positive attitudes,” the IOM added, also noting that on average, its study shows people around the world are more positive than negative towards immigrants than what is commonly believed.

“Monitoring public attitudes towards immigration and understanding what shapes such attitudes are essential to identify how to combat anti-migrant sentiment,” said Dr Frank Laczko, head of IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre. “This is why a global survey of this kind should be conducted on a regular basis.”