India’s remittance inflows double in a decade; US, UK, Canada, Australia drive surge

Rising remittance inflows to India have doubled in the past 10 years, with four advanced economies—the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia—accounting for a growing share of the funds.Migration of higher-skilled Indians to these countries, combined with rising incomes among the diaspora, has helped reduce India’s dependence on any single region while enhancing financial resilience, according to a report by Indiaspora, a San Francisco-based NGO of global Indian-origin executives.“India’s diaspora sends home $138 billion annually, more than FDI inflows. The 35-million Indian diaspora generates over $700 billion in income globally,” Rajan Navani, a board member at Indiaspora, told ET.Beyond macroeconomic benefits, remittances play a key role at the household level. In states such as Kerala, for example, these funds are often directed toward housing upgrades, loan repayments, and education.Kerala receives about 20% of India’s total remittances despite accounting for just 3% of the 1.4 billion population.More than 70% of diaspora respondents expect transfers to India to either increase or remain stable over the next two years.Indian-origin professionals are also increasingly influencing the country’s start-up and philanthropic sectors. Over 75% of overseas angel investors backing Indian start-ups are of Indian origin, while Indian-origin leaders hold decision-making positions in more than half of the world’s largest foundations, collectively directing over $500 million annually to Indian non-profits. In the medical field, one in 10 physicians in the United States is of Indian origin. Indian-origin professionals are also leading major medical and pharmaceutical institutions, including the American Medical Association the Royal College of Physicians, and companies such as Novartis and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.