India tops global remittance list again with record $137 billion inflow

India received more than $137 billion in remittances in 2024, remaining the world’s top remittance recipient country and the only nation to cross the $100 billion mark, according to the World Migration Report 2026 released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The report, released on Tuesday, said, “India consistently leads as the top recipient of remittances, followed by Mexico.” India, Mexico, the Philippines and France were the top four remittance recipient countries globally in 2024.

“India, however, continued to be well above the rest, receiving more than USD 137 billion, and remained the only country to surpass USD 100 billion,” the report said.

India has remained the world’s top remittance-receiving country since 2010. The country received $53.48 billion in remittances in 2010, which rose to $68.91 billion in 2015, $83.15 billion in 2020 and $137.67 billion in 2024.

The report said remittance flows varied across regions, with South Asia estimated to record the highest growth in 2024 at 11.8 per cent, driven by strong inflows to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

According to the report, high-income countries continue to be the largest source of international remittances.

The United States remained the world’s leading remittance-sending country for decades, with total outflows crossing $100 billion in 2024.

It was followed by Saudi Arabia with more than $46 billion, Switzerland with around $40 billion and Germany with nearly $24 billion.
The report also highlighted the role of Asian countries in international education migration.

It said countries in Asia continued to account for the largest share of internationally mobile students. In 2022, more than one million international students came from China, making it the largest country of origin globally. India ranked second with over 620,000 students studying abroad.

After China and India, the numbers dropped significantly, with Uzbekistan recording 150,000 students abroad, followed by Viet Nam with 134,000 and Germany with 126,000.

The United States, France, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Nepal each had between 95,000 and 115,000 students studying abroad.
The report said more than half of the world’s internationally mobile students were living in Europe and North America.

It also said the Indian diaspora had played a major role in the expansion of India’s technology sector.

The report noted that protecting migration’s role in development also involved addressing the “brain drain” challenge and turning it into “brain gain”.

“When skilled workers emigrate, origin countries may lose human capital, but tailored policies can circulate knowledge so that both origin and destination countries benefit,” it said.

The report added: “India’s brain gain efforts include annual diaspora conventions and innovation hubs to entice Indian scientists and entrepreneurs back (or to mentor startups remotely), while China’s initiatives like the Thousand Talents Plan have successfully attracted thousands of overseas Chinese academics to return and bolster domestic research and development. Such programmes can have mixed results, however, notwithstanding the longer-term benefits.”

The report also said the largest internal displacements in Asia in 2024 were caused by disasters rather than conflict or violence.

The Philippines recorded the highest number of internal disaster displacements in the region and the second highest globally after the United States. The country saw nearly 9 million disaster displacements in 2024, with 86 per cent linked to typhoons.

India recorded the second-highest number of internal disaster displacements in Asia, exceeding 5 million, triggered by floods and storms, including major cyclones.

China recorded more than 3.9 million internal disaster displacements in 2024, mainly due to Typhoon Yagi.

The report further said all five of the largest migration corridors involving countries in Oceania were linked to migration into Australia.

The largest migration corridor was from the United Kingdom to Australia, with just over one million UK-born migrants living in Australia in 2024. The number has remained relatively stable over the past 35 years.

The second and third-largest migration corridors into Australia were from India and China, with around 876,000 and 656,000 migrants respectively.

“Australia was home to the largest number of refugees and asylum-seekers in 2024, with nearly 30,000 refugees and over 91,000 asylum-seekers residing in the country,” the report said.

It added that most asylum-seekers in Australia came from Asia, including China and India, which accounted for the first and second-largest numbers of asylum-seekers in the country in 2024.