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A constant struggle facing researchers and policymakers tackling migration issues is a lack of good data. The Center for Global Development recently released “Five Steps Toward Better Migration Data,” an excellent report on concrete steps governments and non-governmental organizations can take in the short run to fill this gap. 

This report is particularly important in the context of a new round of census taking in 2010. The five recommendations are to: 

1. Ask basic census questions and make the data publicly available; 
2. Compile and release existing administrative data;
3. Centralize labor force surveys; 
4. Provide access to microdata, not just tabulations; and 
5. Include migration modules on more existing household surveys.

Given the abundance of recommendations in the development industry, a laudable effort is the accompanying report card (PDF) which tracks countries’ progress with respect to the recommendations.

Here are some existing sources of data on migration and remittances:

• United Nations Global Migration Database
• Migration & Remittances
• Bilateral migration stocks (.XLS) 
• Bilateral remittance flows (.XLS)
• Skilled migration
• Migration and Remittances Factbook