New Delhi: More foreign women are immigrating to India than men, while more Indian men are seeking to leave the country, the latest report by the United Nations body International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has found.
The World Migration Report 2024 by IOM points to a significant difference in the proportion of men and women immigrating to the country. While the report did not provide the exact gender-wise break-up of migrants into and out of the country, the graphs provided show that female immigrants made up about 60 percent of the total in 2020, the latest year for which there is data.
The study did not mention specifically where these women come to India, but Bangladesh topped the list of overall immigrants.
It also noted that there were more female than male international migrants in destination countries in Europe and Northern America, such as the US, Canada, France, Spain and Italy.
This gender split, however, is significantly reversed when it comes to migrants leaving India. The report shows that of the about 17.8 million people who emigrated from India, nearly 12 million or about 67 percent were men.
One possible reason for this, although not explicitly cited in the report, could be the higher share of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as destination countries from India. According to a previous study, the UAE is the most popular destination for Indian emigrants. There were 3.47 million Indians who migrated to the UAE in 2020, 2.7 million to the US, and 2.5 million to Saudi Arabia.
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“In contrast, for most Asian countries in the top 20 — particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait — the number of male international migrants is much higher than female, which is related to the structure of economies (e.g. construction and security sector prevalence) as well as social and human security factors,” the report said.
From an Asian perspective, the distribution of female and male migrants in the top 10 destinations and origins is far more variable than in Africa.
The study highlights that the gender imbalance in immigrants across the globe has been worsening. In 2020, there were 146 million male migrants and 135 million female migrants, resulting in a 51.9 to 48.1 percent divide. Since 2000, female migrants have decreased while male migrants grew by 1.3 percentage points.
The total number of emigrants from India has also increased substantially, from 7.15 million in 1995 to 17.79 million in 2020. However, the number of immigrants in the country has decreased from 6.69 million in 1995 to 4.48 million in 2020.
India largest receiver of remittance
According to the report, India received the most remittances from abroad in 2022, totalling $111 billion. Its remittance receipts were significantly higher than those of its similarly-rated countries like Mexico ($61.1 billion), China ($51 billion), the Philippines ($38.05 billion), and France.
India was the first to reach, and even surpass, the $100 billion threshold. From 2010 to 2022, its receipts more than doubled. The report states that the country received $53.48 billion in 2010, $68.91 billion in 2015, and $83.15 billion in 2020.
Overall, overseas remittances have rebounded from the drop in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. Migrants sent an estimated $831 billion in international remittances in 2022. This is a 5 percent increase from $791 billion in 2021, as well as a 16 percent increase from $717 billion in 2020. The research also noted that remittance receipts to low- and middle-income nations climbed by 8 percent between 2021 and 2022, from $599 billion to $647 billion.
More student emigrants
India is one of the top countries with the highest number of students travelling abroad, the report said. In 2021, it ranked second on the list with approximately 508,000 students who travelled abroad for studies. Only China, which recorded over one million students in the same year, had a higher number of students going abroad.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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