At a time when discussions on migration and migrants are often negatively skewed, it is important to reflect on the contributions that migrants have made, both to their communities of origin and destination. Chapter 5 begins by describing the key concepts related to contributions, while providing an analytical framework in the context of a rich body of academic and policy work on the topic.

The chapter then describes and analyses migrants’ contributions globally in reference to three aspects: sociocultural, civic–political and economic. Emerging impediments to the recognition of migrants’ contributions globally are also discussed, before outlining the implications for policy deliberations and for further research.