UAE top destination for India migrants, hosts 3.47 million: UN report

India received more than $111 bn in remittances in 2022, the largest such amount

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the top destination for Indian migrants, according to a report by a United Nations agency.

There were 3.47 million Indians in the UAE in 2020, 2.7 million in the United States (US) and 2.5 million in Saudi Arabia, said the ‘World Migration Report 2024’ by International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The Mexico-to-US corridor is the largest in the world, meaning how many people born in the South American country immigrated and now live in the US. Syria-to-Turkey and Russia-to-Ukraine are the second and largest corridors , largely attributed to displacement caused by civil unrest and military invasions.

The World Migration Report, released on Tuesday, has been published every two years since 2000. The 2024 report said that in over 50 years, the share of international migrants in the world population has increased from 2.3 per cent (84 million) in 1970 to 3.6 per cent (280 million) in the mid-2020s.

It said that India received more than $111 billion in remittances in 2022, the largest such amount and the first country to surpass the $100 billion mark in a single year. Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the other top four remittance-recipient countries.

"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,” said the report. “India was well above the rest, receiving more than $111 billion, the first country to reach and even surpass the $100 billion mark.”

India, Pakistan and Bangladesh rank among the top 10 recipients of international remittances, marking the significance of labour migration in South Asia.

The report noted that while remittances are a lifeline for many in the “subregion”, migrant workers face financial exploitation, excessive debt due to migration costs, xenophobia, and workplace abuse.

In terms of receiving immigrants, India ranked thirteenth by hosting 4.48 million such people.

The report said climate shapes internal migration, with many people in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh moving out and their remittances being used for daily consumption, including food. It highlighted that changing social structures due to migration and the prevalence of traditional gender roles have made food security outcomes worse for women-headed households.