Pew Research | 5 Islamic nations among top 10 destinations of Hindu migrants

When it comes to migrating Hindus, India tops the list.

In 2020, India was the top country of origin of migrants — 7.6 million Hindus born in the country were found to be living abroad. Conversely, India was the top destination for Hindu migrants that year, with 3 million (22 per cent) Hindus moving here from other countries. 

A report from the US-based Pew Research Center, titled The Religious Composition of the World’s Migrants, said that outside India, the US has the most foreign-born Hindus (2.6 million), accounting for 19 per cent of them. India hosts 22 per cent of migrant Hindus. 

Top rankers

In the top 10 origins of Hindu migrants, India is number one, followed by Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Kenya.

Among the top 10 destinations of Hindu migrants, India and the US are followed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the UK, Malaysia, Australia, Oman and Canada. It may be noted that five of these — the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Oman — are Islamic states.

In the Middle East-North Africa region, the number of foreign-born Hindus increased from roughly 0.7 million in 1990 to 3.3 million in 2020 (up 387 per cent). This includes many who moved to GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries for work, the report said.

Of the six GCC countries, Qatar saw the most growth in percentage terms: The number of Hindu migrants there rose more than 24,000 per cent, from around 1,000 in 1990 to 290,000 in 2020. In sheer numbers, the UAE saw the steepest increase among the GCC countries; the number of Hindu migrants there grew from 140,000 to 1.1 million (up 673 per cent) during this duration.

Migrants 'underrepresented'

According to the report, which is based on UN data, censuses, and surveys, Hindus are “underrepresented” vis à vis international migrants.

“Hindu migrants make up a small share of all international migrants (5 per cent), with 13 million Hindus living outside their country of birth, as of 2020. Hindus are underrepresented among international migrants compared with their share of the global population (15 per cent).

“Hindus, on average, travel longer distances from origin to destination countries than any of the other groups in this analysis, including Buddhists – who also mostly originate from Asia. Hindu migrants move an average of 3,100 miles from their country of origin, compared with an average of 2,200 miles among migrants overall,” it said.

The Hindu migration dynamic is shaped to a large extent by the 1947 Partition, as Hindus from Pakistan and Bangladesh (which separated from Pakistan in 19771) moved to India in large numbers. 

India, preferred destination

India, where Hindus form a religious majority, is the leading destination for Hindu migrants. Around 22 per cent of Hindu migrants (3 million) have moved to India.

“Many Hindu migrants live in the Asia-Pacific region (44 per cent). The next most common destinations for Hindu migrants are the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region (24 per cent) and North America (22 per cent). About 8 per cent of Hindu migrants live in Europe, and very few live in Latin America or sub-Saharan Africa.

“Asia-Pacific is their most common region of origin: Virtually all Hindu migrants (95 per cent) were born in this area. Small shares of Hindu migrants come from sub-Saharan Africa (2 per cent) and Europe (1 per cent), and even fewer were born in the Middle East-North Africa or the Americas,” the report said.

India is by far the leading source of Hindu migrants, with 7.6 million of the community born in India now living abroad.

"But Hindus are less likely to leave India than they are to leave many places where they are a religious minority. Even though India is home to 94 per  cent of the world’s Hindus, it is the source of only 57 per cent of the world’s Hindu migrants," said Pew in its report.

Popular pathway

The “most popular pathway” for Hindu migrants around the world is to move from India to the US. About 1.8 million Hindus have taken this route, making up 61 per cent of all Indian immigrants in America as of 2020.

Next on the 'busiest routes' list is Bangladesh to India, with 1.6 million Bangladeshi Hindus moving here. 

The total stock of Hindu migrants living around the world increased from 9.1 million in 1990 to 13.5 million in 2020 (up 48 per cent). But Hindu migrants grew less than migrants overall (up 83 per cent).

While Hindus have consistently made up between 5 per cent and 6 per cent of the international migrant population during these decades, their regional patterns have changed considerably.

In 1990, nearly eight of 10 Hindu immigrants lived in the Asia-Pacific region. By 2020, that share dropped to less than half, the Pew survey said. 

(Data for all the charts have been sourced from Pew Research Center.)

Also read: Christians, Muslims have migrated out of India in droves