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Countries With the Most Expats

Name the 21 countries which have the most citizens living in another country.
Quiz by relessness
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Last updated: November 4, 2020
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First submittedJanuary 6, 2017
Times taken40,970
Average score71.4%
Rating4.65
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Population
Origin Country
17.5 m
India
11.8 m
Mexico
10.7 m
China
10.5 m
Russia
8.23 m
Syria
7.84 m
Bangladesh
6.30 m
Pakistan
Population
Origin Country
5.90 m
Ukraine
5.38 m
Philippines
5.12 m
Afghanistan
4.53 m
Indonesia
4.45 m
Poland
4.27 m
United Kingdom
4.01 m
Kazakhstan
Population
Origin Country
4.01 m
Germany
3.70 m
Myanmar
3.57 m
Romania
3.55 m
Egypt
3.49 m
Turkey
3.17 m
United States
3.14 m
Morocco
+37
Level 78
Apr 27, 2017
I´m most surprised about Nigeria missing on this list.
+18
Level 76
Apr 27, 2017
Yeah. Even though it's tough for Nigerians to leave the country, they seem to be everywhere.
+20
Level 52
Apr 23, 2021
yeah, one is even offering me 5 million dollars, hes a prince and im his only living relative, i just need to give him 200$ and he will send it
+10
Level 77
Dec 25, 2020
I've never been either to Nigeria or Kazakhstan but I have met scores of Nigerians in my life and no Kazakhs.
+7
Level 69
Jan 6, 2021
Wouldn't many of those Kazakhs be Kazakhstan born Russians who returned to Russia after the fall of USSR? That would explain why you don't meet a lot of them in other countries.
+4
Level 62
Sep 24, 2021
Many central Asians go to Russia for work and education. There's also a huge central Asian expat community in South Korea (not just Koryo-Saram but people of all ethnicities).
+2
Level 72
Sep 26, 2023
That's surprising. South Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries in the world, I didn't imagine any kind of expat community there.
+4
Level 68
Apr 27, 2017
D'oh! I thought this was a list of countries with the most Americans living abroad!
+15
Level 76
Sep 21, 2017
5 million Syrian expats? Are people fleeing a warzone for survival really expats?
+14
Level 72
Sep 21, 2017
I think so by a literal definition of expats, although I agree that "expats" is typically (casually?) used to refer to non-refugees. That's just my feeling though.
+4
Level 82
Sep 21, 2017
Even before the war, judging by the number of them I saw working in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them on the list.
+1
Level 76
Sep 22, 2017
Interesting. I've met a lot of Arabs from different countries but don't think I've ever met a Syrian.
+2
Level 82
Sep 22, 2017
The guy selling kebab on the corner here in Patong (Phuket) is Syrian, too. But there are hundreds of thousands in Saudi. I worked alongside many of them there.
+7
Level 78
Oct 29, 2020
What kind of kebabs were you selling?
+1
Level 82
Jan 8, 2021
I was offering mine freely.
+6
Level 47
Sep 21, 2017
When I originally wrote the quiz I used 'emigrants'. Quizmaster changed it when it was featured.
+4
Level 66
Sep 4, 2019
I believe expats are usually abroad for professional reason, jobs or education. Emigrants can have a variety of reason. So that would perhaps be a better fit.

Atleast that is the way I have allways come in contct with the word. People living in another country for a short time to further their career/learn things.

+15
Level 71
Sep 21, 2017
Although New Zealand is not on this list, I think they should get a special award for having the greatest percentage of citizens living abroad e.g. almost 700,000 in Australia, 80,000 in UK, 20,000 in USA and an estimated 40,000 in the rest of the world. That is 840,000 from a total population of 4,600,000........ 18% live abroad.
+6
Level 53
Sep 21, 2017
Good idea to make a quiz of your own then, it would be interesting.
+2
Level 32
Sep 21, 2017
For the sake of a good trolling (not serious), I am going to say that Australian and Kiwis are practically identical so 700,000 in Australia doesn't mean anything....BURN TO ANY KIWIS ON JETPUNK!!
+1
Level 56
Sep 21, 2017
The birds or the fruit? ;)
+3
Level 62
Jan 6, 2021
Both.
+1
Level 68
Jan 7, 2021
To suggest that Kiwis are all either birds or fruits is both misogynistic and homophobic.
+1
Level 66
Sep 4, 2019
Ah so you have made plenty of room. If someone knows an not too expensive place to life, I ll make some arangements here. I would love to go and life there!
+2
Level 87
Nov 4, 2020
I agree that an interesting quiz (if the data is available) would be percentage of citizens that live abroad, rather than number. That would shake this list up quite a bit.
+1
Level 81
Jan 6, 2021
But if a handful of people move from Liechtenstein to Switzerland that could put them on the map
+3
Level 55
Sep 22, 2017
refugees are counted as expats?
+1
Level 22
Nov 5, 2017
i have done like this. check this out!

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/262199/17-countries-where-expats-live-the-happiest-lives

+2
Level 47
May 19, 2018
20/20, got Romania with 0:03 left.
+1
Level 66
Sep 4, 2019
It really isnt clear, atleast for me, if you meant Countries that have the most people living there that come from another country or countries of which most people decided to live elsewhere.

Only after seeing pakistan so high (Which I tried after getting india after just trying the big countries) I realised you meant the other way around. Countries of which the most people have left, not countries where most people have moved to, which it seemed to describe (to me, when reading the description)

(Because the country they move to, "has people living in another country than they were born in".)

+1
Level 82
Oct 3, 2019
The instructions should make it clear, though the title is a little confusing. But it's the latter (countries with citizens living abroad)
+2
Level 73
Oct 25, 2020
Didn't expect Kazakhstan at all. Guessing they all went to Russia?
+1
Level 87
Nov 4, 2020
Didn't you see the new Borat movie? :)
+1
Level 78
Oct 29, 2020
Why would anybody want to leave Ukraine?
+13
Level 87
Nov 4, 2020
If you live in Crimea, you left Ukraine without even having to move! I wonder if they count as expatriates.
+1
Level 63
May 15, 2023
No, you didn't!
+6
Level 87
Nov 5, 2020
Why would anyone want to leave a corrupt, poverty stricken active warzone? Beyond me.
+2
Level 42
Jan 6, 2021
Yeah but at least 3.17 million Americans have managed to escape the corrupt poverty stricken war zone, so that's good.
+1
Level 79
Nov 17, 2020
Hmmm 🤔
+1
Level 51
Jan 6, 2021
WORST!
+3
Level 64
Apr 22, 2023
Well this aged uh...
+1
Level 71
Jan 6, 2021
I'm surprised there were no Subsaharan countries on the list.
+2
Level 52
Jan 6, 2021
While their populations are large, it's pretty hard for any African to leave their own country.
+1
Level 65
Jan 6, 2021
Do you care @relessness if I create the opposite version of this quiz and just put your hyperlink in a caveat?
+2
Level 71
Jan 6, 2021
No South Korea? According to Wikipedia, the Korean diaspora is about ~7.5 million people and I'm guessing the vast majority of those are from South Korea.

(I realize Wikipedia wasn't the source but the discrepancy still seems odd to me... unless Wikipedia measures expats differently then the UN)

+1
Level 65
Jan 6, 2021
Remember Wikipedia isn't always the most reliable, as anyone can make an article. If they gave sources then that might possibly be good for this, although I would just stick with the UN in the first place.
+1
Level 56
Jan 6, 2021
This quiz is cool. It was full of surprises and really interesting.
+1
Level 72
Jan 7, 2021
Do people with double passports living in one country count as expats from the other? I was sure I'd find Israel there, given the amount of Americans and British Jews with Israeli passports.
+3
Level 57
Jan 8, 2021
Surprised Venezuela didn’t make this list
+2
Level 64
Apr 18, 2021
Almost like you shouldn't believe a word any US govt. says.
+2
Level 58
Jul 21, 2021
Algeria ?
+1
Level 68
Feb 26, 2023
Germany ? but where do they go ?
+2
Level 75
Mar 13, 2023
Switzerland
+2
Level 75
Mar 13, 2023
I was really, really surprised not to see Iran on this list. Many people have left and are still leaving this country since 1979. They're everywhere. I guess most of them never want to return and thus renounce their citizenship.
+1
Level 68
Jul 25, 2023
No Iran, Algeria or Vietnam but way more Kazakhs and Russians than I expected
+1
Level 48
Mar 19, 2024
Should be updated. It is a good quiz, but not on date. Even the link is not working.

I am actually interested, where Sri Lanka and Venezuela stand and if they are making the list now.