India: A Migration Super Power
A study by the United Nations has found that Indians formed the largest group among the 243 million expats in the globe. A Pew Research study shows that in 2015, 15,580,000 people born in India were living in other countries. 5% of the world’s migrants came from India.
Our neighbouring nations – China, Bangladesh and Pakistan – ranked fourth, fifth and sixth in the UN list.
Indians Travel More To Pakistan Than To America?
According to UN Population Division, UAE was the most preferred destination for Indian migrants with 3.5 million out of the 13.5 million living there.
Pakistan and United States had the next highest numbers of Indians, with two million in Pakistan, and 1.97 million Indians living in the US.
Saudi Arabia (1.89 mn), Kuwait (1.06 mn), Oman (0.78 mn), United Kingdom (0.78 mn), Qatar (0.65 mn) and Canada (0.62 mn) were the other top countries which host Indians.
Indians Send Money Home
Worldwide, an estimated 582 billion U.S. dollars was sent by migrants to relatives in their home countries in 2015, a 2% decline from 2014, when the amount was $592 billion, according to economists at the World Bank. About $69 billion was sent by Indian migrants to family and friends in India in 2015, amounting to roughly 3% of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the World Bank estimates.
More Indian Migrants Hold White-Collared Jobs
Indian migrants add to the economic growth of their adopted countries. World Economic Forum published an article by the President and CEO of Western Union. It quoted a National Foundation for American Policy study that says 33% of companies founded by migrants were started by Indians, and 7% of all UK companies were set up by Indians.
Indians are known to value education and enterprise. The study showed that within the US community alone, 21% of Indian migrants are in management, business or finance occupations, compared with 11% of all migrants. Meanwhile, 7% of all UK companies were founded by Indians. In the US, 33% of immigrant-founded companies had an Indian founder.
(With inputs from Pew Research, World Economic Forum and The News Minute)
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