TOKYO — A record 6.93 million Asians newly migrated overseas for work in 2023, as more people from the Philippines, Bangladesh and other countries chase opportunities in advanced economies hungry for labor.
The data, compiled by the Asian Development Bank Institute, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and International Labour Organization, will be presented at a roundtable in Bangkok that starts Thursday.
The 2022 total has also been revised to 5.2 million from 4.6 million.
The number of new migrants from Asia had plunged with the spread of COVID-19 after peaking at 6.1 million in 2015 and 2016. But it has since bounced back, increasing 34% last year and topping the previous record by about 800,000.
The ADBI attributed the surge not only to a recovery in labor migration, but to structural shifts like a shrinking working-age population in advanced economies.
Remittances by migrant workers to the Asia-Pacific also set record in 2023 at about $371.5 billion, making up 43% of total global remittances.
The Philippines sent the largest number of migrants at 2.3 million, a 93% jump from 2022 and accounting for a third of the labor migration from Asian countries. Bangladesh followed with 1.3 million, then Pakistan by 860,000.
Roughly two-thirds of migrant workers from the Philippines are women, many of whom work as housekeepers, cleaners, nurses and caregivers. Top destinations include the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Meanwhile, many Bangladeshi and Pakistani migrants are believed to work in construction.
In terms of destination, about half of all migrants headed to Persian Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia topped the list of recipient countries at 1.6 million, followed by the United Arab Emirates.
Malaysia, a Muslim country as well, also saw a surge in inbound workers to around 760,000.
Overall, the migration corridor from South Asia, including countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, to the Middle East remained active in 2023. But other corridors also gained prominence, with more Bangladeshi workers migrating to Malaysia and more Philippine workers migrating to the UAE.
India continued to account for a large portion of migration to advanced Western economies, where English-speaking software engineers are in high demand. India was the top sender of migrants to the U.S., the European Union, the U.K., Canada and Australia in 2023.
The U.S. issued 193,000 H-1B visas, often used by software engineers, to Indian nationals in 2023, down slightly from the previous year.
Meanwhile, issuances to Chinese nationals, despite remaining much lower than issuances to Indians, surged 275%, rebounding from a drop between 2020 and 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. tensions with China.
Migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam rally for better working conditions in Taipei in 2023. © APJapan had 2 million foreign nationals working there as of October. But other advanced economies in the region, like South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, are also wooing workers from overseas amid a severe labor shortage. Nearly 60,000 Vietnamese workers migrated to Taiwan in 2023, while another 80,000 migrated to Japan.
Remittances from these workers are an economic driver for many emerging and developing countries, accounting for over 20% of gross domestic product for Tajikistan, Tonga, Samoa and Nepal.
Remittances to Oceania, South Asia and Southeast Asia grew in 2023. Remittances to Central Asia fell, stemming partly from the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
source : asia.nikkei