evidence: To mark International Migrants Day on 18 December, UNRIC delves into the significance of these figures. Data from Eurostat, the European Commission and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, provide a clearer picture of migration in the EU, focusing on facts rather than perceptions. [...] In 2021, 2.26 million people migrated to the EU from another continent, according to the European Commission. This is in contrast to the 2.9 million residence permits issued in the same year, administrative procedures that also reflect previous arrivals. This is lower than the 2.5 million people who migrated from the EU in the same year, either to go elsewhere in the world (1.12 million) or to change countries within the EU’s borders (1.4 million).