Indians lead the pack when it comes to acquiring foreign citizenship—1.30 lakh people of India origin became citizens of OECD member-countries in 2015.

OECD, or the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, is a global think-tank comprising 35 member-countries including European countries, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Overall, just a shade over 20 lakh people acquired the nationality of an OECD country in 2015. This figure is up by 3% from 2014, even as it remains within the OECD average of the last ten years.

Clearly, India’s diaspora, which immigration experts say might largely comprise of those on work visas, is not shy of acquiring foreign citizenship . India is followed by Mexico (1.12 lakh) and Philippines (94,000). China comes fifth with 78,000.

These are the findings of the report—International Migration Outlook (2017), which was released by the OECD in Paris on Thursday. An earlier OECD report had pointed out that India has the world’s largest diaspora with 156 lakh migrants.

China retains its top position when it comes to new immigrants. However, on this front, the refugee crisis led to a large influx of immigrants from Syria, pushing India down one spot to fifth position.

Humanitarian migration, rather than migration for better job prospects or lifestyles, dominated the scene during 2015 and will continue to do so in the immediate future, the report states.

The total inflow of new immigrants to OECD countries was 70.39 lakh and new immigrants from China accounted for nearly 7.8% of that inflow during 2015. In 2013, nearly one in ten immigrants was from China. Migration flows from India also dipped slightly from 4.4% of the total inflows to OECD countries in 2013, to just 3.9% of the total inflows to these countries in 2015. However, in terms of stand-alone numbers, there was an inflow of 2.68 lakh immigrations from India during 2015 to Oecd countries, as opposed to just 2.40 lakh in 2013. (see table)

Analysis of the data in this report shows that USA, Canada, UK, Australia and Germany continue to be the favoured destinations for Indian migrants. In terms of actual numbers, there has been a slight dip, except for migration to Canada and UK which has risen marginally.

Both China and India continued to be the major source countries for international students. Over half of international students in the OECD countries originate from Asia. The report compares the statistics of 2013 with 2014. Chinese students, despite a 7% drop in their numbers between these two years, were the most dominant with 6 lakh enrolments during 2014. They are followed by Indian students whose number at 1.86 lakh during 2014 was up by 13% as compared to the previous year. USA receives more than 40% enrolments from the international student category.

On the global stage, the refugee crisis continues to dominate. OECD’s study shows that 50 lakh people migrated permanently to its countries in 2016 compared to 47 lakh in 2015. Member countries, especially in Europe, received more than 15 lakh new asylum requests, and Turkey is sheltering around 30 lakh Syrians. A press release issued by OECD points out that in first six months of 2017, the total number of landings on European shores reached 85,000, which is around 10 times less than at its peak in the second half of 2015.

“Improving the integration of immigrants and their children, including refugees, is vital to delivering a more prosperous, inclusive future for all,” said OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría. The report highlights the fast-track integration program introduced in Sweden and adoption of the first ever law on integration in Germany.

