Over 37,000 Indian workers have died abroad in five years, the majority in the Gulf

Between 2021 and 2025, 37,740 Indian workers died abroad, over 86% of them in Gulf countries, and reports of abuse and exploitation are also on the rise. However, migration flows remain central to the Indian economy, due to remittances. The crisis in the Middle East is putting pressure on an already fragile system, including from an energy perspective, and in the long term risks causing a domestic economic shock.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - More than 20 Indian workers die abroad every day. This is the alarming figure emerging from official Indian government statistics, which show that between 2021 and 2025, 37,740 citizens died outside the country’s borders, with the vast majority of cases concentrated in the Gulf states.

The figures, provided by the Minister for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, in a written reply to Parliament on 29 January, do not specify the causes of death. The peak was recorded in 2021 (8,234 deaths), followed by a decline in 2022 (6,614) and a renewed increase: 7,291 in 2023, 7,747 in 2024 and 7,854 in 2025.

Over 86% of deaths occurred in the Arab Gulf monarchies. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia were the most critical situations, with 12,380 and 11,757 deaths respectively over the five-year period.

These are followed by Kuwait (3,890), Oman (2,821), Malaysia (1,915) and Qatar (1,760). In the Gulf countries alone – excluding Bahrain, for which no data is available – there were 32,608 deaths, amounting to almost 18 deaths per day.

A comparison with the past also highlights a deterioration: between 2012 and mid-2018, at least 24,570 Indian workers died in the Gulf countries, averaging around 10 deaths per day.

The data also show an increase in reports of abuse: between 2021 and 2025, Indian embassies received 80,985 complaints. The United Arab Emirates leads with 16,965 reports, followed by Kuwait (15,234), Oman (13,295) and Saudi Arabia (12,988). Outside the Gulf, Malaysia and the Maldives recorded 8,333 and 2,981 complaints respectively. Overall, reports rose from 11,632 in 2021 to 22,479 in 2025.

Despite this, migrant labour remains vital to the Indian economy. Around 8.9 million citizens live in the Gulf countries, of whom 3.5 million are in the United Arab Emirates and 2.5 million in Saudi Arabia. Remittances reached a record 9.4 billion in 2024 (compared to billion in 2012), with around 38% coming from the Gulf, equivalent to 3–4% of India’s GDP.

The war with Iran has complicated this situation, quickly producing tangible effects on workers’ lives. Between late February and mid-April 2026, around 984,000 Indian citizens returned from the Gulf, although the majority of the approximately 9 million workers still present in the region have so far preferred to stay, despite the worsening economic conditions.

Remittances from the Gulf, estimated at over billion annually, are, however, beginning to decline and are compounded by falling tourism, reduced flights and a series of suspended projects, which are expected to impact incomes.

In India, states heavily dependent on remittances, such as Kerala, with around 2.2 million workers abroad – nearly 90% of whom are in the Gulf – are now seeing the first signs of a slowdown in consumption.

Rising logistics costs, with increases of up to 30%, and the use of unpaid leave suggest that there will be a further reduction in disposable income for many Indian households. Should the conflict drag on, the risk is a ‘labour shock’: an increase in repatriations risks fuelling domestic unemployment and putting pressure on household and public finances.

Added to this is energy dependence: India imports around 88% of its oil, half of which passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Over the past month, the rupee has lost 4.3% of its value against the dollar since the start of the conflict and over 10% in the last year.

There are two possible trajectories: a further depreciation of the currency, which would make exports more competitive but increase the cost of imports and the pressure on public finances; or a reduction in domestic demand, due to increasingly expensive fuel, with a consequent negative impact on industrial production.

This poses a significant problem for the government, which has so far sought to mitigate the effects by focusing on other issues, but which could face a backlash in upcoming elections should the economy contract.

INDIAN MANDALA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO INDIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY FRIDAY? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE.