Estonia is highly integrated into the global trade system: it exports approximately 80% of GDP and around half of domestic employment is sustained by foreign demand. Given that international trade and foreign direct investment are considered as major channels of technology diffusion and...

Unfavourable demographic trends in many OECD countries threaten the sustainability of potential labour resources, GDP growth and fiscal positions. One factor that is expected to mitigate these trends is continued inflows of migrant workers from low income economies. However, a rapid catch-up in...

This paper presents new findings on the main characteristics of immigrants living in OECD countries by country of origin, drawing from the updated Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC) 2015/16. It describes migrant populations by country of destination and country of origin in 2015/16,...

Money remitted by international migrants is a major source of income for many countries around the world, exceeding all international development funds combined. Yet individual migrants and their families are often amongst the most vulnerable people in society, and many face significant barriers...

This paper summarises the economic analyses of the potential impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom, European Union (EU) and euro area performed by members of and contributors to the Brexit Task Force, a group reporting to the International Relations Committee of the European System of Central...

Housing conditions in Belgium are among the best in OECD countries according to the Better Life Index, as dwellings are of high quality and large, and housing costs are average. However, the steep increase in house prices since 2003 has put market access for first-time buyers under pressure....

Household debt has risen markedly since the turn of the century and stands at a historically high level in most OECD countries. This paper offers an overview of developments in household debt over the past decades across a large sample of OECD countries, highlighting both common trends and...

Since 2000, real estate prices in Switzerland have risen rapidly. By some measures, between 2000 and 2014 apartment prices almost doubled, while those of single-family homes increased by around 60%. Price rises have varied considerably across cantons. Transactions activity in the sector has been...

The Danish financial sector is big and there is a high degree of inter-connectedness between banks, mortgage institutions and pension funds. Danish households have large balance sheets and high levels of gross debt. Even though the high debt levels are matched by large assets, notably in form of...

Chile has made considerable progress in promoting access to affordable good-quality housing over the past two decades. The proportion of households that have no housing or that live in sub-standard housing has fallen from 23% in 1992 to 10% in 2011 (Ministerio Desarrollo Social 2013)....