Indians top the list in acquiring foreign citizenship: OECD report
Indians top the list when it comes to acquiring foreign citizenship. In 2015, 1.3 lakh people of Indian origin acquired citizenship of the 35 OECD countries. Most of these expatriates were on work visas. These are the findings of International Migration Outlook by the OECD. An earlier OECD report had also found that with 156 lakh migrants, India had the world's largest diaspora.
Talking about migrants, China dominates the scene
In case of migrants, the total inflow to OECD countries in 2015 was 70.39 lakh. India's contribution to it decreased from 4.4% in 2013 to 3.9% in 2015. However, in figurative terms, number of migrants from India increased from 2.40 lakh in 2013 to 2.68lakh in 2015. China accounted for 7.8% of the 2015 inflow. In 2013, one in ten immigrants was Chinese.
Which places do Asians prefer the most?
For Asian migrants including India and China, the most favored destinations were found to be USA, UK, Germany, Australia and Canada. Both India and China were the largest sources for international students, especially in OECD countries, where Asian students make over half of the total set. In contrast to China's six lakh student enrolment in 2014, India had 1.86 lakh.
More about the 2015 report
In 2015, Mexico followed India with respect to foreign citizenship with 1.12 lakh people, preceded by Philippines (94,000). Here, China took the fifth position, with 78,000 giving up their citizenship.
