Diaspora Enriching India With $111 Billion In Remittances

GENEVA (ANI) – India received over $111 billion in remittances in 2022, marking the first instance of any country surpassing the $100 billion mark, the United Nations migration agency said in a report.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) unveiled its World Migration Report 2024, highlighting notable trends in global migration.

In its comprehensive analysis, the report identifies India, Mexico, China, the Philippines, and France as the top five recipients of remittances in 2022. However, India far surpasses its counterparts with remittances exceeding $111 billion.

“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.

Notably, India was the leading recipient of remittances in 2010, 2015, and 2020, with figures steadily climbing to reach an unprecedented number in 2022.

The report emphasizes the significance of Southern Asia as a key recipient of remittances, with India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh collectively ranking among the top ten recipients globally. The substantial inflow of remittances underscores the vital role of labor migration from the subregion.

Pakistan and Bangladesh also feature prominently as significant recipients of international remittances, ranking sixth and eighth, respectively, with remittances totaling nearly $30 billion and $21.5 billion in 2022.

However, amid these positive trends, the report sheds light on the challenges faced by migrant workers from South Asia. These challenges include financial exploitation, excessive debt due to migration costs, xenophobia, and workplace abuses, underscoring the vulnerabilities inherent in labor migration.

The Gulf States emerge as crucial destinations for migrant workers, with the 2022 football World Cup accentuating the region’s reliance on migrant labor. Notably, migrants constitute 88 percent, nearly 73 and 77 percent of the national populations, respectively in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar.

In the United Arab Emirates, migrants represent 88 percent of the national population.

In the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar, migrants made up 88 percent, nearly 73 and 77 percent of the national populations, respectively.

Most migrants – many of whom come from countries such as India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Kenya – work in sectors such as construction, hospitality, security, domestic work and retail.

India, with a diaspora of approximately 18 million individuals, stands as the origin of the largest number of international migrants globally.

Moreover, India features prominently in international migration corridors, with significant migration flows observed between India and the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh.

Furthermore, the report assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant workers, particularly in India, where low-skilled migrants faced job losses, wage theft, and insecurity.

“The pandemic has had an overwhelming effect on internal labor migration patterns and has reshaped work in both rural and urban areas. There has been a decline of almost 10 percent in blue-collar workforce mobility toward cities, which has drastically cut the labor supply for major industries. The official estimate of reverse internal migration is 51.6 percent for men and 11 percent for women,” the report said citing experts and official data.