Deep learning four decades of human migration: datasets

This Zenodo repository contains all migration flow estimates associated with the paper "Deep learning four decades of human migration." Evaluation code, training data, trained neural networks, and smaller flow datasets are available in the main GitHub repository, which also provides detailed instructions on data sourcing. Due to file size limits, the larger datasets are archived here.

Data is available in both NetCDF (.nc) and CSV (.csv) formats. The NetCDF format is more compact and pre-indexed, making it suitable for large files. In Python, datasets can be opened as xarray.Dataset objects, enabling coordinate-based data selection.

Each dataset uses the following coordinate conventions:

• Year: 1990–2023
• Birth ISO: Country of birth (UN ISO3)
• Origin ISO: Country of origin (UN ISO3)
• Destination ISO: Destination country (UN ISO3)
• Country ISO: Used for net migration data (UN ISO3)

The following data files are provided:

• T.nc: Full table of flows disaggregated by country of birth. Dimensions: Year, Birth ISO, Origin ISO, Destination ISO
• flows.nc: Total origin-destination flows (equivalent to T summed over Birth ISO). Dimensions: Year, Origin ISO, Destination ISO
• net_migration.nc: Net migration data by country. Dimensions: Year, Country ISO
• stocks.nc: Stock estimates for each country pair. Dimensions: Year, Origin ISO (corresponding to Birth ISO), Destination ISO
• test_flows.nc: Flow estimates on a randomly selected set of test edges, used for model validation

Additionally, two CSV files are provided for convenience:

• mig_unilateral.csv: Unilateral migration estimates per country, comprising:
  • imm: Total immigration flows
  • emi: Total emigration flows
  • net: Net migration
  • imm_pop: Total immigrant population (non-native-born)
  • emi_pop: Total emigrant population (living abroad)
• mig_bilateral.csv: Bilateral flow data, comprising:
  • mig_prev: Total origin-destination flows
  • mig_brth: Total birth-destination flows, where Origin ISO reflects place of birth

Each dataset includes a mean variable (mean estimate) and a std variable (standard deviation of the estimate).

An ISO3 conversion table is also provided.