MANGALURU: As tensions simmer across parts of West Asia, official data from the Ministry of External Affairs highlight India’s economic and human exposure to the region, particularly the Gulf, which remains the largest hub of Indian workers abroad.
Karnataka has mirrored this outward push. The State recorded 6,927 Emigration Clearances (ECs) in 2025, the highest in a decade, largely for blue-collar workers heading to West Asia. Karnataka issued 6,521 ECs in 2016, falling to 4,267 by 2018 before recovering to 5,316 in 2019. Numbers plunged to 1,476 in 2020 during the pandemic and remained low at 2,143 in 2021. A sharp rebound followed: 5,700 in 2022, 6,209 in 2023, 5,811 in 2024, and a decade-high 6,927 in 2025. These clearances apply to workers holding Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports, processed through the e-Migrate system.
Nationally, India’s overseas population stood at 34.3 million as of January 2025, split between Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin. Nearly nine million Indians live in the Gulf alone. The United Arab Emirates hosts 3.89 million Indians, followed by Saudi Arabia (2.74 million), Kuwait (1.01 million), Qatar (0.83 million), Oman (0.66 million), and Bahrain (0.34 million). Smaller but sensitive presences include 123,000 Indians in Israel and 10,320 in Iran.
Labour outflows have accelerated post-pandemic. Between January 2020 and June 2025, 1,606,964 ECs were issued nationwide. After dropping to 94,145 in 2020, clearances rose to 1.32 lakh in 2021, 3.73 lakh in 2022, 3.98 lakh in 2023, and 3.87 lakh in 2024. In the first half of 2025 alone, 2.21 lakh ECs were already granted. Over 85% of these clearances were for Gulf destinations, with Saudi Arabia accounting for over 695,000 workers, followed by the UAE (341,000), Kuwait (201,000), Qatar (153,000), and Oman (116,000).
Migration flows are increasingly driven by northern states. In 2025, Uttar Pradesh led with 166,022 clearances, followed by Bihar (89,127), Rajasthan (32,135), and West Bengal (30,316). Southern contributors such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala remain significant, though their share has moderated compared to earlier decades.
A statement by the External Affairs Minister to Parliament in February this year noted that India has historically been a major source of international migrants. The rise in migration is a trend that began in the 1990s and continues to date.
Largest Indian diaspora abroad (as of January 2025):
United States – 5,693,609 Indians
United Arab Emirates – 3,897,567 Indians
Canada – 3,611,290 Indians
Malaysia – 2,935,000 Indians
Saudi Arabia – 2,747,551 Indians