India became the top remittance recipient country in the world and the only nation to surpass 100 billion dollars, the UN agency on migration said, adding that the country received over 137 billion dollars in remittances in 2024.
“India consistently leads as the top recipient of remittances, followed by Mexico,” the World Migration Report 2026, released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said.
In 2024, India, Mexico, the Philippines and France were the top four remittance recipient countries globally. India, however, continued to be well above the rest, receiving more than $137 billion, and remained the only country to surpass $100 billion, the report said.
United States of America has consistently been the top remittance-sending country in the world, with a total outflow surpassing $100 billion in 2024.
As per the UN report, the distribution of remittances varies across regions as well, with South Asia estimated to experience the highest growth in 2024 at 11.8 per cent, driven by continued strong inflows to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Since 2010, India has been the top remittance receiving country in the world, when it had received 53.48 billion dollars, which grew over the years to 68.91 billion dollars in 2015, 83.15 billion dollars in 2020 and 137.67 billion dollars in 2024.
Asian countries continue to account for the largest share of internationally mobile students. In 2022, more than one million international students came from China, the single largest origin country worldwide. India ranked second, with over 620,000 students abroad.
Beyond these two leading countries, origin country numbers drop considerably: Uzbekistan (150,000), Viet Nam (134,000) and Germany (126,000) follow, while the United States, France, Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic and Nepal each had between 95,000 and 115,000 students studying abroad. More than half of the world’s internationally mobile students reside in countries in Europe and North America.
The Indian diaspora has been instrumental in the expansion of India’s technology sector, report said.
As per the UN report, all of the five largest migration corridors involving countries in Oceania comprise migrants to Australia, with the largest corridor being from the United Kingdom to Australia.
Just over 1 million migrants from the United Kingdom were living in Australia in 2024, and this number has remained relatively stable over the last 35 years.