Migration trends in India
Asia
18.5M people from India have built lives abroad. That's 1.3% of the country population, spread across 124 different countries
1.5B
Population
4.3M
Immigrants
18.5M
Emigrants
−14.2M
Outflow
The #1 largest source of emigrants worldwide
Despite emigrants making up just 1.3% of those born in India
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in India
Where people move to
Where people come from
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
7.1M immigrants · 6.6M emigrants
1995
- Became the biggest country by emigrants in Asia
- The country became a place of departure — more people leaving than arriving
2000
- The outflow deepened — net losses doubled to 1.5M
2010
- United Arab Emirates replaced Pakistan as the main destination for those leaving
- Slipped out of the world's 10 biggest immigrant destinations
- Surge of departures to Qatar — 330.8K people left
- Surge of departures to Australia — 177.7K people left
2015
- Surge of departures to Oman — 360.4K people left
- The diaspora abroad passed 15M people
Today
- Since 1990: 2.7M fewer foreign-born residents and 12M more citizens living abroad