UNDESA Report on Migrants

Why in News?  

International Migration report 2020 has been released by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).  

 Aim: To provide the estimates of the number of international migrants according to country, age and sex for all regions of the world. 

 Key findings for India: 

• • Indian diaspora is 18 million strong. It is the largest transnational population in the world.  
  • Destinations: The United Arab Emirates, the US and Saudi Arabia host the largest numbers of migrants from India. 
  • Reasons for migration: Migration from India is largely motivated by labor and family reasons. Forced displacement smaller, about 106 in the total. 
  • Growth in Migration: Between 2000 and 2020, India experienced the largest gain of nearly 10 million. 
  • Remittances in India: India is the main recipient of remittances worldwide. In 2019, it received USD 83 billion in remittances. The World Bank projects that in 2020, the amount will decline by around 9% to about USD 76 billion. 

 Other Key Takeaways from the report: 

• • Migrants: Currently, International Migrants represent about 3.6% of the world’s population. 

• • • The US is the largest receiving country of international migrants, followed by Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the UK.  

• • Impact of Covid-19: Covid-19 pandemic may have slowed the growth in international migrants by around two million by mid-2020.  

• • Remittances: Volume of remittances sent to low-and middle-income countries is projected to reduce by 14% in 2021. 

Article Source