# India tops world in overseas migrants and remittances: NITI Aayog 2026-08-21T06:31:20+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India has the largest overseas migrant population in the world at 18.5 million and is the highest recipient of remittances, according to a new NITI Aayog study. The report stresses the need to strengthen skilling and institutional mechanisms to meet global labour demand. The current overseas employment pipeline is concentrated in lower-skilled work, with construction alone accounting for 71.3 per cent of placements facilitated by the National Skill Development Corporation International. Between January 2020 and June 2025, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu together accounted for over 1.16 million emigration clearances. Saudi Arabia and the UAE remain the largest destinations for Indian migrant workers. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The study highlights a structural mismatch: India sends the most migrants but mostly for low-skilled jobs, missing higher-wage opportunities in ageing economies like Japan and Germany. The government's Skill India mission and revised emigration rules aim to shift this, but only 2.8 million workers were trained under the overseas skilling programme as of 2024. Without scaling up, India risks remaining a supplier of cheap labour rather than a source of skilled professionals. Watch for the next Budget's allocation to international skilling partnerships and the Emigration Bill currently under review. ## Coverage - business-standard.com Straight report on NITI Aayog findings without editorial commentary This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bihar, National Skill Development Corporation, NITI Aayog, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uttar Pradesh Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-tops-world-in-overseas-migrants-and-remittances-niti-aayog/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-tops-world-in-overseas-migrants-and-remittances-niti-aayog/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/