Overseas Indians sent home record $129.4 billion last year

Indians working abroad sent home a record $129.4 billion in 2024 with the highest-ever inflows of $36 billion in the October-December quarter, according to the latest figures compiled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

India tops the list of recipient countries for remittances in 2024 and is way ahead of second-placed Mexico with $68 billion.

China ($48 billion) is at the third spot followed by the Philippines ($40 billion), and Pakistan ($33 billion), according to figures compiled by World Bank economists.

The growth rate of remittances in 2024 is estimated to be 5.8 per cent, compared to 1.2 per cent registered in 2023, according to World Bank data.

The number of Indians working overseas has tripled from 6.6 million in 1990 to 18.5 million in 2024, with its share in global migrants rising from 4.3 per cent to over 6 per cent during the same period.

Indian migrants in the Gulf countries account for around half of the total Indian migrants in the world.

The recovery of the job markets in the high-income countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the key driver of remittances.

This is especially true for the United States where the employment of foreign-born workers has recovered steadily and is 11 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic level seen in February 2020.

Officially recorded remittances to low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) are expected to reach $685 billion in 2024.

According to the World Bank, remittances have continued to outpace other types of external financial flows, such as FDI, to low and middle-income countries and will continue to increase because of enormous migration pressures driven by demographic trends, income gaps, and climate change.

During the past decade, remittances increased by 57 per cent, while FDI declined by 41 per cent. Remittances will likely continue to increase because of enormous migration pressures driven by demographic trends, income gaps, and climate change, the World Bank report explained.

The country received over $ 100 billion as remittances for the third year in a row. Globally it has been among the top recipients for over 25 years since the information technology boom in the nineties and has been consistently occupying the top most t place since 2008. This led to a surge in services exports skilled professionals’ migration from India to developed economies in North America and Europe resulting in them sending money to their family back home supplementing the traditional source of inflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)countries.

Remittances are typically linked to employment conditions in the source country and migration pattern in the recipient country. India’s stock of international migrants has tripled from 6.6 million in 1990 to 18.5 million in 2024, with its share in global migrants rising from 4.3 per cent to over 6 per cent during the same period.

Indian migrants in the GCC countries account for around half of the total Indian migrants in the world.

A recent survey on remittances published in the latest Reserve Bank of India’s monthly bulletin notes that “The competitive edge and the penetration of Indian IT services overseas at the start of the century, the number of skilled emigrants to advanced economies, especially to the US, has risen significantly. Thus, besides the GCC, advanced economies have also emerged as a major source of inward remittances to India over the years”.

Remittances to India are money transfers (called remittance) from non-resident Indians (NRIs) employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives residing in India. India is the world’s top receiver of remittances, claiming more than 12 per cent of the world’s remittances in 2015.

Remittances to India stood at $125 billion in 2023, up from $69 billion in 2017. Remittances from India to other countries totalled $5.710 billion in 2017, for a net inflow of $63.258 billion in 2017.

As per the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), remittance is received from the approximately 35 million members of the Indian diaspora.

Remittances to India have long been a cornerstone of the nation’s economy, significantly contributing to household incomes, economic stability, and overall development. These financial transfers from non-resident Indians (NRIs) are vital not only for the families receiving them but also for the broader economic landscape of the country. As one of the largest recipients of remittances globally, India benefits immensely from the steady flow of funds sent by its vast diaspora.

Remittances to India have a rich historical backdrop dating back to the colonial era when Indian laborers were transported to various British colonies. Over 1.5 million Indians were laborers transported to multiple British colonies between 1834 and 1917.

Agencies