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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.
