Migration of high-skilled and STEM professionals from India: Addressing Global Compact for Migration objective 1

Abstract

This research note examines the dimension and characteristics of the outflow of Indian high-skilled and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals to five key destination countries, namely, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Indian migrants constitute a significant and growing share of high-skilled and STEM professionals in the major immigration countries of the world. Statistics highlight the proposition that retaining them is vital for the origin countries to realize the Sustainable Development Goals with particular focus on mitigating global inequalities in the 21st century. This note also addresses objective 1 of the Global Compact for Migration by exploring specific statistics on emigration from India representing the Global South.