Bangladesh migration: diaspora, destinations & visa routes

How many people leave Bangladesh, where they go and on which visa categories - a cited snapshot for 2025-26, drawn from official statistics and international migration data. Prefer it visual? Explore Bangladesh on the interactive migration map.

Outbound corridors · Bangladesh

Bangladesh - where they emigrate

One of the world's largest labour-exporting nations. ~7.4M Bangladeshis live abroad and ~1.3M workers leave every year, overwhelmingly on Gulf employment permits under kafala sponsorship, with a smaller family/study stream into the UK and US. Remittances (~US$22B) fund ~5% of GDP.

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7.4M

Bangladeshis living abroad

migrant stock 2020

1.31M

labour migrants / yr

overseas employment 2023

$22B

remittances

~5.2% of GDP, 2023

#1 KSA

Saudi Arabia dominant

~37% of 2023 outflow

651k

British Bangladeshi

ethnicity, England & Wales

333k

Bangladesh-born in US

2020 Census / ACS

Where they live

Diaspora stock by country (latest census / official)

Saudi Arabia

~2.9M

UAE

706k

Malaysia

~800k

Oman

680k

Qatar

400k

Kuwait

350k

United States

333k

United Kingdom

~280k

Where they go each year

Estimated annual long-term moves (people / yr)

Saudi Arabia

484k

Malaysia

350k

Oman

127k

Qatar

100k

UAE

98k

Singapore

60k

Kuwait

35k

The trend

Total overseas employment

annual labour outflow (000s)

Source: BMET annual overseas employment

Corridor facts

REMITTANCE LIFELINE~US$22B in 2023, roughly 5.2% of GDP; Bangladesh is the world's 7th-largest remittance recipient.

SAUDI DEPENDENCESaudi Arabia alone took ~37% of the 2023 outflow; the top 5 Gulf/SE-Asia destinations absorb ~95% of workers.

WORKER-PAID MIGRATIONBangladeshi migrants pay some of the world's highest recruitment fees (US$3,500-5,500), often via loans and land sales.

6TH-LARGEST SENDERBangladesh is the world's 6th-largest country of origin for international migrants (IOM/UN DESA).

LOW-SKILLED SKEWThe vast majority of Gulf-bound migrants are less-skilled labourers and domestic workers, not professionals.

What visa categories they use

Share of the annual flow, by destination

Saudi Arabia

Malaysia

UAE

United Kingdom

United States

Skilled / workFamily / partnerStudyHumanitarian / other

Corridor economics - volume, categories, cost, time

Corridor	Volume	Primary / secondary categories	Govt cost	Time	Apply
Saudi Arabia	~484k/yr	Kafala employment visa (construction, services, domestic) Free-visa / azad brokers common	$3,500-5,000 broker fee (worker-paid)	2-4 months	Check options ›
Malaysia	~350k/yr	Plantation, manufacturing, construction permits Market suspended mid-2024	$4,000-5,500 (worker-paid, high fees)	2-5 months	Check options ›
UAE	~98k/yr	Employment permits (no PR path) Golden Visa for investors/talent	$2,500-4,000, partly employer-paid	3-8 weeks	Apply ›
United Kingdom	~15k/yr (est.)	Student route; family reunion Skilled Worker / Health & Care	£490-1,639 + IHS £1,035/yr	3-8 weeks	Apply ›
United States	~10k/yr (est.)	Family green cards; DV lottery F-1 study; H-1B	$2-10k + attorney 2-6k	1-8+ years	Apply ›
Qatar	~100k/yr	Kafala employment (services, construction) Post-World Cup demand softening	$3,000-4,500 (worker-paid)	1-3 months	Check options ›

Key insightBangladesh's outbound market is a high-volume, worker-financed Gulf labour pipeline: ~1.3M departures/yr each paying US$3-5k in fees, dwarfing the smaller but higher-value UK/US family and study streams.

Sources: UN DESA 2020 · BMET (Bureau of Manpower Employment & Training) · World Bank · UK ONS 2021 Census · US Census / ACS · IOM · UNHCR. Figures are indicative planning estimates compiled from public aggregates; confirm current rules with the relevant authority. Editorial & data policy.

Inbound corridors · Bangladesh

Bangladesh - who is arriving

Bangladesh's inbound picture is dominated by the Rohingya refugee emergency: over 1 million stateless refugees who fled Myanmar (mainly the 2017 military crackdown) are encamped in Cox's Bazar and on Bhasan Char island. There is minimal economic in-migration; the country is a host of forced displacement, not a labour-import destination.

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1.0M+

Rohingya refugees

registered, Sep 2024

~966k

in Cox's Bazar camps

world's largest refugee settlement

~36k

relocated to Bhasan Char

island settlement

150k

new arrivals since 2024

renewed Myanmar violence

Where they come from

Foreign-born stock by origin (latest official)

Data not available.

Who arrives each year

Estimated annual long-term moves (people / yr)

Data not available.

Corridor facts

OVER ONE MILLIONBy Sep 2024 the joint UNHCR-Government database recorded 1,003,394 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

FROM MYANMARNearly all fled Rakhine State, Myanmar; the largest wave came during the 2017 military operations.

STATELESS & ENCAMPEDRefugees are largely denied the right to work and formal education; they depend on humanitarian aid in congested camps.

NO SIGN OF RETURNRepatriation to Myanmar has stalled amid civil war; the population keeps growing through births and new arrivals.

Key insightBangladesh's inbound flow is a humanitarian burden, not a migration market: over 1M Rohingya refugees hosted at cost, with no labour-import economy attached.

Sources: UNHCR · Government of Bangladesh (RRRC) · IOM. Figures are indicative planning estimates compiled from public aggregates; confirm current rules with the relevant authority. Editorial & data policy.

Frequently asked

How many people from Bangladesh live abroad?

7.4M - Bangladeshis living abroad. Source: UN DESA 2020.

Where do most people migrate from Bangladesh?

The top destinations are Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Oman.

What visas do Bangladesh migrants use for the Saudi Arabia corridor?

Kafala employment visa (construction, services, domestic).

Key Bangladesh migration corridors

Each corridor has its own key-facts page with volume, visa-category mix and the visa routes that apply.

Bangladesh → United Arab Emirates~217k/yr Bangladesh → United Kingdom~128k/yr

See it on the map

Compare Bangladesh against every other major source and destination country, trace the flow arcs and switch between inbound and outbound on the interactive world map.

Open the interactive migration map

Figures on this page are indicative planning estimates for 2025-26, compiled from public aggregates (UN DESA, OECD and destination-country statistical releases); they are not official counts. General information only, not immigration advice.