Mapping the diversity and structuring of migration patterns: One-off, repeat and multiple migrants in the European Union

Much migration research analyses one-off migration from origin to destination, of a more-or-less permanent character. This paper argues that the reality of international movements is more complex. Thus, the aim of our analysis is to shed light on the diversity of migration patterns involving repeat movements between origin and destination and multiple migration, which encompass more than one destination country within its migration trajectory. A review of the literature points to the gap between the literature on repeat migration and that on multiple migration. These two strands of literature developed separately; each took as a frame of reference one-off migration. In this paper we bridge this theoretical gap. Empirical analysis, based on the European Internal Movers’ Social Survey (EIMSS), quantifies the volume of one-off, repeat and multiple movements between selected European Union countries. The study also points to how the diverse patterns of migration are socially structured.