Migration to the UAE from India was the second largest in the world in 2015, even though the countries don't share a border, a new report has revealed.
The largest migration corridor occurs between Mexico and the United States. This is unsurprising since the two countries share a border that extends over 3,201 km.
Nearly 2.8 million Indians have immigrated to the UAE between 1995 and 2015, according to the report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
But, Arabian Business has cited a recent statement by India's ambassador to the UAE that says 2.6 million Indians have made the country their home.
Whether it's 2.8 or 2.6 million, the level of migration is huge and referred to as a "recent phenomenon" by the report. It points out that between 2005 and 2010, the number of Indian migrants increased by 126 percent.
Indians are the largest diaspora community in the world, with more than 240 million people living outside their country of birth.
A massive number of Asians began migrating to the Gulf in the 1970s during the oil boom.
"The boom brought a rapid increase in demand for foreign labour, as domestic labour forces were too small and lacked the necessary skills," the report explains.
Immigrants now account for more than 80 percent of the population in the UAE and Qatar, and some 70 percent in Kuwait. Indians are the largest ethnic group in the UAE, comprising close to 30 percent of the total population.
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka are the top six origin countries for immigrants in the GCC countries.