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With a 17.5 million-strong overseas Indian community, India has been named the leading country of origin of international migrants in 2019, according to new estimates released by the United Nations said.
The number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million, said the International Migrant Stock 2019, a dataset released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The report provides the latest estimates of the number of international migrants by age, sex, and origin for all countries and areas of the world based on official national statistics on the foreign-born or the foreign population obtained from population registers, population censuses, or nationally representative surveys.
According to the report, the top 10 countries of origin comprise one-third of all international migrants.
In the year 2019, India topped the list of leading countries of origin of international migrants with 17.5 million persons living abroad.
The second-largest diaspora was from Mexico with 11.8 million, followed by China - 10.7 million, Russia - 10.5 million, Syria - 8.2 million, Bangladesh - 7.8 million, Pakistan - 6.3 million, Ukraine - 5.9 million, the Philippines - 5.4 million and Afghanistan - 5.1 million.
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While India hosted 5.1 million international migrants in 2019, international migrants as a share of the total population in India was steady at 0.4 percent from 2010 to 2019.
The report said India hosted 207,000 refugees, adding that refugees as a share of international migrants in the country were four percent.
The female population of the international migrants in India was 48.8 percent and the median age of international migrants was 47.1 years. In India, the highest number of international migrants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.
The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for DESA Liu Zhenmin said that these data are critical for understanding the important role of migrants and migration in the development of both countries of origin and destination. Facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people will contribute much to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report added that forced displacements across international borders continue to increase. Between 2010 and 2017, the refugees and asylum seekers globally increased by about 13 million.
In terms of gender composition, women make up a bit less than half of all international migrants in 2019. The share of girls and women in the global number of international migrants stood at 48 percent in 2019 while it was at 49 percent in 2000.
In terms of age, one out of every seven international migrants is under the age of 20 years.
By Sowmya Sangam
