India tops global remittances at $137.7 billion in 2024: IOM Report
India is the world's top receiver of remittances from workers overseas, collecting $137.7 billion in 2024 — up sharply from $83.2 billion in 2020 — according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)'s International Migration Report 2026, released at the United Nations on 6 May 2025. The figure underscores India's unmatched dependence on, and benefit from, its vast global diaspora.
Global Remittance Flows: Where the Money Comes From
The United States remains the world's top source of outbound remittances, sending $103.2 billion to countries across the globe. Saudi Arabia ranked a distant second, with $46.6 billion in outflows. Regionally, South Asia recorded the highest remittance growth rate in 2024, at 11.8 per cent — the fastest among all global regions, according to the IOM report.
India's Migration Corridors: UAE, US, and Australia
The world's fifth-largest migration corridor runs from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), comprising primarily migrant workers. The IOM noted that there were more than 3 million Indians in the UAE — the top nationality in that country. A previous IOM report had put the figure at a more precise 3.47 million in 2020.
The India-to-US migration corridor followed closely, with approximately 3.2 million Indian migrants living in the United States as of 2024, making them the second-largest foreign-born group after Mexicans. The IOM noted that
