Migrant workers sent more money to India than any other country last year

(Himanshu Singh Gurjar, Unsplash)

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Simon Torkington, Formative Content

India sends more workers abroad than any other country. According to data from the United Nations, there were almost 17 million Indians working overseas in 2017.

With such a huge number of people earning a living outside their own country, it’s perhaps not surprising that Indians also top the ranking for remittances sent to families back home.

The World Bank compiled the chart above using data from the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development. It shows Indian migrant workers sent home almost $79bn in 2018. China was the second largest recipient of remittances, with $67bn sent back by 10 million overseas workers.

In itself, the $79bn Indians sent home in remittances is a huge sum of money, but it is equal to just 2.7% of India’s GDP, according to data from KNOMAD.

For smaller countries, remittances make up a much higher percentage of GDP.

The chart below uses data from the World Bank to rank the countries that are most dependent on remittances. Kyrgyzstan received $2.5bn in remittances in 2017, but that relatively small figure amounted to more than a third of the nation’s GDP. Nepal took in $6.9bn in remittances, making up 29% of the country’s overall economic output.

Remittances to low and middle-income countries reached a record high in 2018, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.

The Bank estimates remittances to these countries reached $529 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.6% over the previous record high of $483 billion in 2017. Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, reached $689 billion in 2018, up from $633 billion in 2017.

Discover more from The European Sting - Critical News & Insights on European Politics, Economy, Foreign Affairs, Business & Technology - europeansting.com

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Middle East war: Energy crunch hits vulnerable nations

April 2, 2026

The war in the Middle East and the near halt to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has amplified the energy crunch facing developing nations in Africa and South Asia that rely heavily on imported liquid gas, food and fertilizers. And with Brent Crude still trading at more than $100 per barrel, many workers and households have reverted to […]

© WHO UN officials in Cyprus oversee the loading of emergency humanitarian supplies for Gaza.

Breaking the Gaza aid bottleneck: 106-tonne delivery arrives via new sea route

April 2, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has facilitated the delivery of some 106 metric tonnes of lifesaving nutrition supplies to the Gaza Strip – the first shipment via a mechanism to deliver aid by sea, in line with a UN Security Council resolution and amid the ongoing war […]

© IMO Crew members take a break on a ship. (file)

‘No precedent’ for seafarers caught in war zone in post-WW2 era

April 1, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Some 20,000 seafarers remain stranded on ships in the Strait of Hormuz as the war in the Middle East continues, a situation which has been described as unprecedented in the post-Second World War era. The seafarers are working on some 2,000 ships including oil and gas tankers, […]

© UNIFIL UNIFIL peacekeepers on patrol along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.

UN condemns killing of two more peacekeepers in Lebanon

March 31, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The United Nations has condemned two consecutive days of deadly attacks on peacekeepers serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), amid rising hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on Monday, and two more were injured, in an explosion that hit a UNIFIL logistics convoy, destroying […]

© WFP/Arete/Ali Yunes A building in Beirut lies in ruins after airstrikes in Lebanon.

Middle East war: Attacks on vital healthcare, evacuation strike fears

March 30, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Almost one month since Israeli and US airstrikes on Iran began, sparking a wider regional war, UN agencies and partners on Friday highlighted the terror among civilians fleeing bombardment, with “no safe space” to go. In a rare piece of good news, though, the UN World Health […]

UN News/Daniel Dickinson The closure of the Hormuz strait is impacting trade on a global scale.

Persian Gulf crisis impacting food security, FAO warns

March 27, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The intensifying conflict in the Persian Gulf “has triggered one of the most rapid and severe disruptions to global commodity flows in recent times,” the Chief Economist with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Thursday. The crisis is affecting agricultural production and food security worldwide, with impacts […]

Gulf war ‘out of control’, Guterres warns, as UN appoints envoy to push for peace

March 26, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that the escalating Gulf war is “out of control”, urging all sides to step back from the brink and allow diplomacy to prevail, as he announced the appointment of a senior envoy to spearhead peace efforts. Speaking outside the UN Security Council in New York […]

Gaza: Commitment to US-backed plan crucial to recovery, Security Council hears

March 25, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. As tensions escalate in the Middle East, the international community must not lose sight of the situation in Gaza, an official with US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace across the shattered enclave said on Tuesday in his first appearance in the UN Security Council. High Representative […]

© IMF/Stephen Jaffe The UN is warning of surging food and fuel prices driven by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Dire fertiliser shortage a lurking threat due to Hormuz crisis

March 24, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Since the start of the Middle East conflict with Israeli and US strikes on Iran on 28 February, concerns have been growing over rising oil and commodity prices. At the centre of it lies the Strait of Hormuz – one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints […]

War in the Middle East: Iran nuclear facility hit as equivalent of ‘one classroom of children’ killed, wounded daily in Lebanon

March 23, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. More than 1,000 people have been killed and 2,584 injured in Lebanon since the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, UN officials said Saturday. Key points “Recent escalation has killed or wounded the equivalent of one classroom of children every day,” said Ted Chaiban, deputy chief […]

Middle East war shockwaves ripple through Asia-Pacific fuel and supply chains

March 20, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The fallout from the war in the Middle East is rippling far beyond the Gulf, disrupting fuel supplies, shipping routes and supply chains across Asia and the Pacific, with some of the region’s most vulnerable economies already feeling the strain through rising prices, rationing and threats to […]

© WFP/Jaber Badwan A woman carries food rations distributed by the World Food Programme in Almaghazi, Gaza.

Humanitarian needs in Gaza deepen as aid access remains constrained

March 19, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Humanitarian needs are continuing to grow again across Gaza, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday, amid mounting pressures on aid delivery and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “Families face ongoing hardship” as access to essential aid remains limited and many continue […]

© WFP/Khadija Dia Food is distributed to displaced families sheltering in a school in Tariq Jdide, Beirut.

Middle East war risks pushing 45 million more people into acute hunger

March 18, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The Middle East war could cause the worst disruption to lifesaving humanitarian work since COVID, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday, as the UN chief again demanded an end to the widening conflict. “The Secretary-General asserts once more that the war in the Middle […]

© World Vision Smoke rises in Beit Mery, close to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, following an airstrike.

Middle East war’s ‘spiral of conflict’ drives mounting civilian toll

March 17, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The widening war in the Middle East and its growing impact on civilians came under scrutiny at the UN in Geneva on Monday, as independent experts briefing the Human Rights Council warned of escalating violence following the onset of Israeli and US strikes on Iran and counterstrikes […]

© Mousawat A mother and child displaced by the conflict in Lebanon receiving care at a clinic.

Middle East war: Women in Lebanon forced to give birth on roadside

March 16, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. As the UN Secretary-General touched down in Beirut on Friday in solidarity with the people of Lebanon, UN agencies highlighted the dangers for civilians and particularly pregnant women and migrant workers, amid ongoing airstrikes and rocket fire between Hezbollah fighters and Israel. “There’s 11,600 pregnant women who […]

© WFP/Arete/Ali Yunes Some residents of Beirut who have been displaced by the conflict are now living on the streets of the Lebanese capital.

‘Perfect storm’: Lebanon crisis deepens as civilians bear the brunt

March 13, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Lebanon is facing a “perfect storm of unpredictable challenges” as conflict, mass displacement and dwindling humanitarian resources converge, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, Imran Riza, has warned. The current escalation began on 2 March, when outgoing fire by Hezbollah drew a strong retaliation from […]

© WFP/Maxime Le Lijour People living in Gaza have received humanitarian aid from the UN throughout the conflict with Israel.

UN relief chief condemns ‘$1 billion-a-day’ cost of war in Middle East

March 12, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. The UN’s emergency relief chief on Wednesday condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war in the Middle East, at a time when humanitarian needs are soaring and aid funding is falling dangerously short. “We’re seeing the consequences spread faster than we can respond”, warned the UN emergency […]

© UNICEF/Azizullah Karimi Afghan returnees from Iran gather at the Islam-Border, near Herat in western Afghanistan (file).

‘Toxic rain’ warning from oil depot strikes amid ongoing Middle East war

March 11, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. Toxic “black rain” linked to strikes on oil depots, mass displacement and continuing disruption to aid supply chains are upending lives across the Middle East and beyond after 10 days of war in the region, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, UN Human […]

© UNHCR People gather at the Masnaa border point in Lebanon as they wait to cross into Syria.

Nearly 700,000 displaced in Lebanon as Middle East crisis escalates

March 10, 2026

This article is published in association with United Nations. On day 10 of the war engulfing the Middle East, UN agencies on Monday reported massive displacement across the region, along with surging food and fuel prices that risk increasing hunger and suffering for the most vulnerable. In Lebanon alone, nearly 700,000 people including around 200,000 children […]