This worked out to around 281 million people in 2020, and nearly half of them hailed from just 20 countries.
We rank the top countries where immigrants come from in 1995 and 2020. This data was accessed from the UN IOM’s World Migration Report 2024.
The Origin Countries of International Migrants (1995 vs. 2020)
India is the top country of immigrant origin in 2020, accounting for 17.8 million immigrants.
To put it in simple terms, that year, nearly 1 in 16 immigrants around the world came from India.
| Rank | 1995 | Immigrants Abroad (Millions) | 2020 | Immigrants Abroad (Millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Russia |
11.4 |  India |
17.8 |
| 2 | India |
7.2 |  Mexico |
11.1 |
| 3 | Mexico |
7.0 | Russia |
10.7 |
| 4 |  Ukraine |
5.6 |  China |
9.8 |
| 5 |  Bangladesh |
5.4 | Bangladesh |
7.3 |
| 6 | China |
4.7 |  Pakistan |
6.1 |
| 7 |  UK |
3.6 | Ukraine |
6.1 |
| 8 | Pakistan |
3.3 |  Philippines |
6.0 |
| 9 |  Kazakhstan |
3.3 |  Poland |
4.8 |
| 10 |  Italy |
3.2 | UK |
4.6 |
| 11 |  Germany |
3.0 |  Indonesia |
4.6 |
| 12 |  Turkey |
2.7 |  Venezuela |
4.5 |
| 13 | Philippines |
2.4 | Kazakhstan |
4.2 |
| 14 | Indonesia |
1.9 |  Romania |
4.0 |
| 15 |  Portugal |
1.9 | Germany |
3.9 |
| 16 |  Morocco |
1.9 |  Egypt |
3.6 |
| 17 | Poland |
1.8 | Turkey |
3.3 |
| 18 |  Belarus |
1.7 | Morocco |
3.3 |
| 19 |  South Korea |
1.7 | Italy |
3.3 |
| 20 |  Afghanistan |
1.7 |  Vietnam |
3.1 |
Mexico ranked second as the origin country for 11.1 million immigrants and Russia third at 10.7 million.
In fact the top three countries (Russia, India, Mexico) have stayed the same between 1995 and 2020, though the order has shuffled.
India and Mexico have seen sustained population growth in the same time period, but this Russian exodus means that Russia now has fewer people than it did in 1990.
An interesting insight is that 16 of the top 20 countries of immigrant origin in 1995 are also present in the 2020 ranking. Many of them are now middle income countries with fast-growing economies.
Another interesting insight from the source—not included in this dataset—is that Europe and Asia hosted 87 million and 86 million immigrants respectively (or 60% of all migrants).
At the same time, nearly half of the top 20 countries by immigrant origin are in Asia. Another seven are in Europe. This indicates that when people move countries, they may not necessarily move very far.
For example, Ukraine was the number one source of new EU residents in the last 10 years.
Finally, emigration from these countries has generally increased. India grew from 7.2 million in 1995 to 17.8 million in 2020.
