The State of Immigration

Based on a comprehensive examination of 10 advanced economies to identify and evaluate the best immigration policies to promote economic growth, the United States ranked 9th out of 10 competitor countries, ahead of only Japan, a country historically closed to outsiders.

U.S. is Far Behind in the Race for Global Talent

China is winning the battle to attract and retain top international talent. By 2025, China will produce more than 77,000 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates per year compared to 40,000 in the U.S. According to a recent House Republican China Task Force Report, the U.S. “needs to continue to attract the best and brightest STEM talent from around the world, or risk falling behind in the global race for talent and losing its competitive advantage in innovation.”

About the Report

Business Roundtable selected the evaluated countries based on five criteria:

  1. Worldwide university rankings;
  2. Per-capita income;
  3. Gross domestic product growth rate;
  4. Net migration rate; and
  5. Research and development investment.

After comparing each advanced economy relative to the five criteria, the top 10 countries (including the United States) were selected for the study: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Not coincidentally, these are the countries with which the United States competes most for foreign talent, particularly in science and technology fields.

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