Your population growth is the backbone of a country’s stability. A country or state has to make sure that they fulfill the needs of the population in order to prevent migration or emigration, which will result in a loss of manpower and wealth.
Naturally, pops living in a state, or a country will have their own specific needs, desires, and aspects of a Standard of Living. On this basis, they will decide whether they want to Migrate or Emigrate.
The mechanism behind a Pop’s will to Migrate or Emigrate in Victoria 3 is quite complicated. For that purpose, in this guide, we’ll be looking at how to manage Migration and Emigration in Victoria 3.
What are Migration and Emigration?
Migration means the mass movement of Pops from one place to another within the same state/market. There are two types of Migration in Victoria 3.
Intra-Market Migration
In this Migration, Pops can rotate between two States taking their money, with the condition that States have to be part of the same Market.
Mass Migration
This occurs due to massive cultural disorder, which instigates Pops of that culture to migrate to a target location for that particular culture to be held intact. This causes Mass Migration, and it can be applicable from all over the world.
Similarly, there is a global mechanism that handles a type of Turmoil called Cultural Turmoil. It is caused in between Pops of the same culture, and a player cannot do much about that.
Depending on the global levels of Cultural Turmoil, the game might automatically select a Migration Target for the respective Pops. Pops from the whole world will start to Migrate to the Migration Targets in Bulk. This is called Emigration which is basically a result of Cultural Turmoil.
Migration Laws in Victoria 3
In a country, the only factor that affects the Pop’s will to migrate is their Standard of Living, but whether they can or cannot is another story. The Migration ability of your Pops is determined by your country’s laws. There are three Migration laws you can find in the law menu’s Human Rights header.
| Migration Laws | Effect |
| Closed Borders | Pops cannot migrate, neither inside nor outside the country. |
| Migration Controls | Prevents the migration of (culturally or religiously unaccepted) Discriminated Pops. |
| No Migration Controls | Pops are free to Migrate |
Once Migration is enabled, Pops will be free to migrate depending on whether they’re happy with their lives or not i.e. Standard Of Living. The fact that determines which state they will migrate to is the Migration Attraction.
How to increase Migration Attraction in Victoria 3
Migration Attraction, as the name implies, is a basic measure of how suitable a state is to be migrated to. It is generally dependent on the average Standard of Living provided there.
Naturally, if a Pop is in the mood to Migrate, they will move from a state of Lower Standard of living to a Higher Standard of Living I.e. from a place of Lower Migration Attraction to a place of Higher Migration Attraction.
Aside from the Standard of Living, a few more factors affect the state’s level of Migration Attraction, but they’re not as effective:
- The level of Devastation and Destruction after a War
- Peaking Values of Unemployment
- Turmoil
If you want to keep the bar of a state’s Migration Attraction high, you can take a few more steps on top of countering the aforementioned problems.
- Making Market Capital or Trade Centers
- Employment of the Colonial Resettlement Law
- Employing the Greener Grass Decree
