from : Feedbacq Blog : World Expat Population 

Expats around the world: The Numbers

• There were a ‘mere’ 73 million expats worldwide in the year 1960, that figure now stands at a staggering 230 million!

• Expats make up 3.1% of global population.

• If all the expats of the world were to form an imaginary country, it would be the 5th most populous country in the world.

• Lets call it the United States of Expatriates. Its population would be greater than large countries like Russia and Brazil.

• A human chain made up of all expats would be long enough to circumnavigate the globe – a distance of nearly 25,000 miles!

• Women make up 49% of the expat population worldwide, i.e., nearly 113 million, more than the population of Canada and the UK put together!

• The total expat remittances to developing nations amounted to US$ 328 billion in 2012, thereby propping up the economies of those countries.

• The top recipient countries of expat remittances are India, China, Mexico, Philippines and Nigeria.

• The Top 5 countries with the highest share of expats in total population are Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan and Singapore.

• It is interesting to note that the top 3 countries with the highest percentage of expats in the total population are all oil rich middle-eastern countries.

• There are 6.32 million American and 4.7 million British expats living abroad.

• In the time taken for you to read this, 6-7 expats would have moved abroad for the first time!