Context

India was the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019 with a 17.5 million strong diaspora, according to new estimates released by the United Nations, which said the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million.

About

• The count of the Indian Diaspora has increased 10% from 15.9 million in 2015, making it the largest in the world, according to the UN’s International Migrant Stock 2019
• The data set was compiled by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division.
• It now comprises 6.4% of the total global migrant population.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the top destination of Indian migrants followed by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Oman.
• Bangladesh was a top source of migrants to India, followed by Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and China.

Global data

• In 2019, the number of international migrants worldwide was nearly 272 million, up from 221 million in 2010 and 174 million in 2000.
• More than half of all international migrants lived in Europe (82 million) or Northern America (59 million).
• Women comprised slightly less than half of all international migrants. The share of women in the total number of international migrants fell from 49.3 % in 2000 to 48% cent in 2019.
• In 2019, the percentage of females among all international migrants was highest in Northern America (51.8 %) and Europe (51.4 %).
• Central and Southern Asia (49.4 %), and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (49.3 %) hosted an almost equal proportion of female and male migrants.
• Europe hosts the largest number of international migrants, at 82 million; followed by North America at 59 million; North Africa and Western Asia host around 49 million migrants.