It's A Record! India First Country To Get $111 Billion In Remittances
it’s a record! india first country to get usd 111 billion in remittances
New Delhi: India set a world record by receiving over USD 111 billion in remittances in 2022. According to a report by the United Nations migration agency, the country has received the largest remittances ever recorded, becoming the first to surpass the USD 100 billion mark.
With large diasporas with UAE, US and Saudi Arabia, it is estimated that India is the origin of the largest number of international migrants, nearly 18 million.
On May 7, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched the World Migration Report 2024 that stated, 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.
India was the top country receiving remittances in 2010 (USD 53.48 billion), 2015 (USS 68.91 billion), and 2020 (USD 83.15 billion), with the remittances crossing the USD 100 billion mark to reach USD 111.22 billion in 2022, as per the data collected in the report. The second largest recipient was Mexico with an inward remittance of $61 billion. The previous year as well it took the second spot replacing China and still continues to hold its position.
China has grabbed the third spot with its remittance of $51billion. Some of the major factors that made China slip to the third position are the demographic shifts that have resulted in shrinking of the working age population and the country’s zero Covid policy which prevented people from travelling abroad for work.
It is observed that South Asia receives some of the largest inflows of remittances globally as a large number of migrant workers are from the subregion.
In 2022, Pakistan (rank 6) and Bangladesh (rank 8), India’s other neighbouring countries also saw an inflow of nearly $30 billion and $21 billion respectively underscoring the significance of labour migration from the subregion.
“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,” the report said.
The report claims that even after remittances remain a lifeline for many people, these migrant workers in the subregion continue to face several risk factors, including financial exploitation, excessive financial debt due to migration costs, xenophobia and workplace abuses.
The Gulf States continue to be significant destinations for international migrant labourers, and the 2022 Fifa World Cup highlighted both the significance of migrant labour to the subregion even after their rights were violated.
The report added that of nearly 18 million or 1.3 per cent of the total population, India is also the origin of the largest number of international migrants in the world. 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.
According to the report the international remittances have recovered from the pandemic affected year 2022. A total of $831 billion was estimated in International remittances globally with an increase from $791 billion in 2021 and significantly more than $717 in 2020.