Indian medical professionals have become indispensable to health systems across advanced economies, according to the International Migration Outlook 2025 released on Monday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The report highlights that from the perspective of the 38 OECD member countries, which include the US, Canada, European nations, and Australia, the growing reliance on migrant healthcare workers represents both a “lifeline and a vulnerability” for global health systems.
About one in five foreign-born doctors and nurses originates from a European Economic Area (EEA) country, while Asia remains the main region of origin, accounting for roughly 40% of doctors and 37% of nurses. India, Germany, and China are the top three countries of origin for doctors, while the Philippines, India, and Poland lead among nurses.
OECD sees first decline in international students since pandemic
The OECD report also found that its member countries continued to attract international students in 2024, though numbers fell for the first time in three years. Only 1.8 million new tertiary-level students, those enrolled in universities, colleges, and vocational higher education programs, were hosted by OECD nations in 2024, a 13% drop from 2023.
The United States and the United Kingdom remained the leading destinations, issuing approximately 3.90 lakh and 3.84 lakh student permits, respectively. Canada (2.13 lakh) and Australia (1.82 lakh) followed, with these four countries together accounting for 65% of all international student inflows.
However, 2024 marked the first year-on-year decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada and Australia saw the steepest drops, at 39% and 22% respectively.
India remains the top source of migrants to OECD nations
India and China have long been the leading countries of origin for migrants to the OECD area, excluding humanitarian crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, India surpassed China as the main country of origin and continued to lead in 2023.
“Since 2020, India has been the main country of origin of migration flows to OECD countries, Ukraine aside,” the report noted. In 2023, about 600,000 Indian citizens migrated to OECD member states—an 8% increase from 2022.
Almost one in four of these migrants chose the United Kingdom (144,000), representing a 28% rise from the previous year. Among them, 97,000 arrived on health and care worker visas, including 39,000 primary applicants and 57,000 dependents.
Canada also saw an increase in new Indian arrivals, receiving 140,000 migrants in 2023 (up 18%), while the United States reported a 45% decline, admitting 68,000 Indian migrants.
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