JAKARTA – The Asia-Pacific region remains the world’s largest source of international migrants, making up about one in every three people living abroad, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Asia-Pacific Migration Data Report 2025. 

The report found that around 90.6 million people from the region were living overseas in 2024, while another 48.7 million migrants were residing within Asia-Pacific. That marks a 50 percent jump since 2000. 

India, China, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Philippines were among the top countries of origin, while Australia, Japan and Malaysia were major destinations. 

Women now make up half of all migrants from the region, which has been a gradual change in migration patterns once dominated by men. Most movements, however, still happen within Asia. 

In East Asia, nearly half of all migrant workers are women, while in South Asia, men still make up the majority of migrants due to heavy outflows to construction and industrial jobs in the Gulf region. 

“Migration has proven to be a lifeline for individuals and communities,” the IOM said.

Money sent home by migrant workers also hit record levels. Remittances to Asia and the Pacific reached USD 358 billion in 2024, accounting for 40 percent of global remittance flows.

The inflows have continued to rise steadily since 2020, making them the region’s largest source of external financing. India, China and the Philippines remained the top recipients, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam. 

For smaller economies such as Tonga, Samoa and Nepal, money sent home made up more than a quarter of their gross domestic product.

But the IOM warned that high transfer fees continue to cut into migrant’s already-modest earnings. The average cost of sending money home stood at around 5.5 to 6.2 percent in 2024, still above the United Nations target of reducing costs below 3 percent by 2030.