New Delhi: India broke the world record for the most remittances ever recorded in 2022, receiving over USD 111 billion in remittances, according to the UN migration agency. It was also the first nation to cross the USD 100 billion threshold.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), in its World Migration Report 2024 launched on Tuesday, has said that in 2022 India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the top five remittance recipient countries.
“India was well above the rest, receiving more than USD 111 billion, the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 billion mark. Mexico was the second-largest remittance recipient in 2022, a position it also held in 2021 after overtaking China, which historically had been the second-biggest recipient after India,” the report said.
The report’s data indicates that, in terms of remittances received, India ranked first in 2010 (USD 53.48 billion), 2015 (USD 68.91 billion), and 2020 (USD 83.15 billion). In 2022, remittances are expected to surpass USD 100 billion. According to the report, a significant portion of the world’s remittance inflows are received by migrant workers from the Southern Asian subregion.
The fact that Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India are three of the top ten countries in the world for receiving foreign remittances highlights the importance of labour migration from the Southern Asian subregion.
The report said, “With India estimated to have received more than USD 111 billion in 2022, it is by far the largest recipient of international remittances in the world and the first country to ever reach that figure”. Pakistan and Bangladesh were the sixth and eighth largest international remittance recipients in 2022, receiving nearly USD 30 billion and USD 21.5 billion respectively.
Remittances continue to be a lifeline for many people in the subregion, but the survey also pointed out that migrant workers from these nations face several concerns, such as financial exploitation, excessive debt incurred from moving expenses, xenophobia, and workplace abuses. The Gulf states continue to be a popular destination for international migrant labourers, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup highlighted both the rights breaches and the significance of migrant labour to the subregion.
In many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States, the majority of the population is still made up of migrants. In the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, the proportion of migrants to the respective national populations was 88%, 73%, and 77%.
Most migrants work in industries including construction, hospitality, security, domestic work, and retail. Many of them are from countries like India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya. According to the research, India accounts for almost 18 million, or 1.3%, of the world’s total population. It is also the country of origin for the greatest number of international migrants, with sizable diasporas residing in Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.
India came in 13th as the destination country for immigrants, with 4.48 million. India – United Arab Emirates, India – US, India – Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh – India were among the top 10 international country-to-country migration corridors, the report said.
After India, Mexico is currently the world’s second-largest beneficiary of overseas remittances. China had been in second place for a long time, but in 2021 Mexico overtook it. Mexico received an anticipated USD 51 billion in 2022, while the Central American nation received almost USD 61 billion.
“The contraction of remittance flows to China has been attributed to multiple factors, including demographic shifts that have resulted in the shrinking of the working age population and the country’s zero-COVID policy, which prevented people from travelling abroad for work,” the report said.
The report went on to say that the majority of students who study abroad worldwide are native to Asian nations. China accounted for almost one million of the world’s internationally mobile student population in 2021, more than twice as many as students from India, which came in second place with about 508,000 students.
The US is the largest destination country for international mobile students in the world (more than 833,000), followed by the UK (nearly 601,000), Australia (around 378,000), Germany (over 376,000) and Canada (nearly 318,000).
International students, particularly those from the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, and India, find China to be a significant destination.
According to the survey, there are more female than male foreign migrants in India as well as in destination nations in Europe and Northern America, including the US, Canada, France, Spain, and Italy.
Immigrants from India make up somewhat more of the population than men. In India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, the percentage of male emigrants is notably high. With an increase in arrivals from unusual origin nations, irregular migration to the US continues to be a significant policy concern.
The highest number of interactions ever recorded occurred at the US-Mexico border in 2022, totalling 2.4 million. “Encounters” include both arrests and deportations; many of the migrants included in these data attempted to enter the US multiple times without permission. For many years, the majority of undocumented immigrants came from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras; however, in 2022, there was an increasing number of interactions with migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua.
“There were also a large number of arrivals from Haiti, Brazil and from countries outside the region such as India and Ukraine,” it said. “The shift in origin country geography has also been attributed to Title 42, which suspends the right to claim asylum under United States and international law based on preventing the spread of COVID-19,” it said.
According to the report, low-skilled migrants on short-term contracts, workers in the informal economy, and undocumented workers have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic’s effects on Indian emigrants, both domestically and internationally. Many Indian immigrants are deeply in debt and experiencing instability as a result of losing their employment, pay fraud, and lack of social protection during the pandemic.
