Abstract:
The identification and structural analysis of global international migration networks constitutes an in-depth investigation of bilateral migration corridors worldwide. Migration networks function both as a key driving force in the evolution of human–land relationship systems and as a significant manifestation of bilateral migration corridors. Using countries as the basic research unit, this study estimates global migration flow data based on international migrant stock data from 2020 to 2024, delineates the spatial scope of the global migration network through community detection algorithms, and explores the structural characteristics of the network using the principal component iterative decomposition algorithm. The findings indicate that: (1) A total of 40.018 million international migrants moved among 195 countries, forming 7,018 effective migration corridors; super-large and large-flow corridors together carry 70.08% of the total flows, revealing pronounced “core–periphery” spatial heterogeneity. (2) Seven cohesive migration communities were identified. Based on their spatial distribution characteristics, they can be categorized into three types: intra-continental combinations, intercontinental leapfrogging combinations, and intercontinental adjacency combinations. Migration flows within communities (
26.3062 million) are significantly higher than those between communities (
13.7118 million). (3) The global migration network exhibits a distinct hierarchical central system. Communities of different sizes display differentiated network patterns: large communities adopt multi-center radial structures, medium-sized communities exhibit dual-center distributed structures, and small communities present single-core star-shaped structures. The modularized structure and hierarchical central system revealed in this study provide a scientific foundation for constructing a multi-level migration governance framework and enhancing network resilience.