India received $111 billion in remittances in 2022: World Migration Report 2024

I’ve seen this news circulating for 2-3 days and being used as clickbait on just one page (even though the original report is 384 pages) stating India received $111 billion in remittances in 2022 as per World Migration Report 2024, which obviously has some people wondering if we should be happy or worried if this money stops flowing due to the global economic situation and lack of opportunities abroad, . So here’s my understanding and explanation of the report.

India received $111 billion in remittances in 2022 as per the World Migration Report 2024. And who remitted the money? Both migrant workers and ‘international migrants.’

It’s simple logic that remittances could have been sent from different countries by Indians legally living abroad, including PR holders of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe, etc., who are migrants, including those under work permits and even students, as they too are eligible to have bank accounts to send/receive money from abroad.

First things first, this data was determined based on the year 2022. However, the report refers to the main international corridors for country-to-country migration in 2024 as mentioned in my comments.

It is important to remember that remittances usually do not tell us anything about visa status, nor does the report indicate how much money was remitted from each country. However, let’s say, UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA as the top list as per the report , then we can still worry less because Saudi Arabia and UAE have more flexible employment visa rules compared to the USA.

The biggest concern has always been the USA, knowing their strict rules for Green cards and TRV concerns (H1B, L1), but notably, the USA has always been on top in sending remittances as you can see in my comments. And those who transferred under the status of PR or citizenship, we have no concern as they are not under TRVs.

Summary: Is this good news? Indeed it’s. Remember the days when you moved from your hometown to the big cities and sent money home to your parents/relatives? Weren’t you glad you sent money home? Again, there is a notable mention of what happened to the HNI who left the country. Remember that about 6,500 high net worth individuals are planning to bid adieu to India in 2023? If not, here’s my post on Why are HNIs Leaving India? Immigration Facts 2023! . And the logic remains the same: your village sarpanch or the richest person in your village left your village and started a business in the city that provides employment opportunities. That would have helped your village too, right?

Again, there is no data on how much wealth was transferred abroad by HNI when they left the country, but yes, some wealth left, and probably more wealth came back.

Also, legal immigrants have been sending remittances no matter where they are, and that just proves that we always take care of our families no matter where we go, because our roots are here!

Here’s the World Migration Report 2024