According the World Bank, there are 5.4 million immigrants in India making it the 10th largest host for immigrants. The United States is #1 with 42.8 million immigrants. The Bank’s data also show that the China-USA and India-USA corridors are the 10th busiest immigration corridors in the world, with 1.7 million immigrants each.
With this movement of people, also comes the movement of money, generally from rich countries to poor ones. Over $48 billion leaves the United States each year via such outward remittances, making its citizens the largest sender of money (largely to their relatives) overseas. India is the 19th largest sender of remittances at $4 billion.
Companies such at Western Union have a thriving business around global remittances and so do many banks such as HSBC and Citi. In 2010, India received $55 billion from overseas remitters, largely from the Emirates and the USA/Canada/UK/Australia. China was close behind receiving $48 billion from overseas citizens. These numbers are person to person payments and don’t include payments for goods/services, exports and imports.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
