JAKARTA - Asian labour corridors to the Gulf, North America and Southeast Asia carried some of the world’s largest migrant worker flows in 2024, but regular migration routes remain uneven, the International Organization for Migration said in its World Migration Report 2026, released on May 5.

The report listed India to the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia, India to Saudi Arabia, Indonesia to Malaysia and Myanmar to Thailand among major migration corridors involving Asian countries in 2024. IOM said the India-UAE corridor was made up mainly of migrant workers.

Gulf economies remain central to that pattern. In 2024, migrants made up 74 percent of the UAE’s population and nearly 67 percent of Kuwait’s population, according to the report. IOM linked the male-heavy migrant population in Gulf countries to labour demand in construction and oil and gas.

Malaysia was also named as a major Asian destination. The report said the country drew large numbers of migrant workers from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, while the Indonesia-Malaysia and Myanmar-Thailand corridors remained among Asia’s largest cross-border routes.

IOM infographics by Migrant Times
Asian labour migration routes link workers to Gulf and Southeast Asia hubs. Data source: IOM. Infographics by Migrant Times.

The money attached to those routes is large. IOM put the 2024 global remittance total at $905 billion, including $685 billion to low- and middle-income countries. The report said World Bank data do not fully capture unrecorded formal and informal flows, meaning actual remittance totals are likely higher.

India was the top remittance recipient in 2024 with $137.67 billion, followed by Mexico with $67.64 billion and the Philippines with $40.28 billion. Saudi Arabia was the second-largest remittance-sending country, with outflows above $46 billion, behind the United States.

IOM said regular migration pathways have become increasingly selective and unevenly distributed across countries and groups. The report said nationality still shapes mobility, with citizens of countries with lower human development levels facing more visa restrictions than citizens of very high human development countries.

IOM said the policy test is whether governments can expand regular channels where labour demand already exists. Without that, the report said, workers are more exposed to exploitation, irregular routes and higher costs when sending money home.