International migration is highest in India and China, but the migration rate is not high

According to a United Nations report, in 2024, India has the highest number of migrants at 18.53 million, followed by China with 11.7 million. Migration here refers to leaving one's home country to work or live abroad, excluding tourism. There are many reasons: work, study, visiting relatives are normal reasons, while war, refugees, and other abnormal reasons also exist. Note that this is a cumulative number, not the number of people migrating out of China in one year, which is less than 500,000 annually.
India and China rank the top two mainly because of their large populations; the proportion of migrants is actually quite low. Countries like Mexico, Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Pakistan have migration numbers similar to China. Some small countries have half their population living abroad.
Figure 2 shows that China's migrant population accounts for only 0.8% of its total population, the lowest among the top 20 countries with the most migrants. India's proportion is also not high at 1.3%.
Surprisingly, 24.1% of Romania's population has migrated, and Poland has 11.9%. Ukraine, Syria, and Venezuela have high migration rates due to conflict and war. Some countries with moderate income levels also have high migration rates. When people are well-educated and have decent income but still seek to migrate, they often want to go abroad.
Chinese migrants are mainly students. Over 700,000 students go abroad to study each year, including about 200,000 middle school students, with a 470% increase over ten years. This is a special phenomenon in China; many families do not have good education options domestically and have to spend a lot to study overseas. The idea that one can get rich abroad is not widespread; society generally knows that foreign countries are not easy to succeed in.
Indian migrants mainly go abroad for work. A small number have good education levels, similar to Chinese students studying abroad and seeking high-tech jobs. Most are ordinary laborers; China used to have some labor migrants, but this is no longer popular. Overall, Chinese people are less inclined to go abroad because of a bad reputation of foreign countries. Indians are eager to go abroad to earn money, but opportunities are limited. #加密市场回调