More Indian migrants living in Pakistan than US: PEW Research Centre

Approximately two million Indian migrants live in Pakistan


News Desk March 07, 2017
Says Pakistan was home to the second-largest number of Indian migrants after UAE in 2015. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

According to Pew Research Centre, almost half of India’s migrants are living in just three countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan and the United States (US).

In 2015, Pakistan was home to the second-largest number of Indian migrants after the UAE, said a published report on its website.

It said that some 3.5 million Indians have been living in the UAE, making it the most favourite destination country for Indian migrants.

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Over the past two decades millions of Indians have migrated there to find employment as labourers.

Surprisingly, Pakistan has the second-largest number of Indian migrants, with two million in the research centre’s report.

Almost two million more Indian migrants live in the US, making up the country’s third-largest immigrant group, the report added.

During the last 25 years, the number of global Indian migrants has more than doubled, growing nearly twice as fast as the world’s aggregate migrant population.

In 2015, 15.6 million people born in India were already living in other countries, it added.

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In another old study conducted in 2010, Pew Research Centre revealed that India’s religious minorities were actually moving from their country at a greater rate than the majority Hindus, who made up 80% of India’s population.

Approximately 19% of the migrant population from India is Christian, though they form only 3% of the entire population. On the other hand, Muslims made up 27% of the Indian migrant population living abroad, compared with roughly 14% of the population in India, it explained.

India has a long history of migration. Many Indian migrants moved to Africa, the Caribbean and within the Indian subcontinent itself, over a century ago. Few of the top destinations for Indian migrants in recent years remained Persian Gulf countries, North America and Europe.

Read the report here.

COMMENTS (15)

Zahid | 7 years ago | Reply Pakistan Zindabad...great place that even the Indians call home....or at least the lucky ones. We don't kill you for eating beef.
UK | 7 years ago | Reply @Gyan: Total of 7.2 million people migrated to Pakistan in 1947. Out of which only 0.7 m went to East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and 6.5 m moved to West Pakistan (Today's Pakistan). Out of 6.5 m who moved to West Pakistan, 1.5 million went to Sindh, mainly Karachi and Hyderabad. Whereas 5 million settled in Pakistani Punjab (including my own grand parents). "Mohajir" word is only used by descendants of 1.5 m migrants who settled in Sindh. Migrants to Punjab were initially called "Panaahi", but term vanished pretty quick. Descendants of those who migrated to Punjab, now consider themselves Punjabis and do not use term "Mohajir" or "Panaahi"
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