Diaspora black hole


Over USD 400 billion was sucked out of economies worldwide last year by ten countries alone, with India, China, and the Philippines topping the list in our region.

It's a trend that has bounced back with a vengeance since the great pandemic 'reset'. For some countries, sending citizens abroad holds the key to economic prosperity. This article looks at diasporas in our region and their economic impact.

What is a diaspora?

The word diaspora derives from the Greek verb “scatter”. It literally means “I sow. I scatter”.[1]

A diaspora is a population scattered across regions, around the world, which is separate from its country of origin.

A loose interpretation is ‘an expatriate population’, but the true meaning is a bit more complex, and the economic implications even more complex, as we will find out.

According to the Migration Data Portal website[2], a diaspora is characterized by most, if not all, of the following features:

  • Migration, which may be forced or voluntary, from a country of origin in search of work or trade
  • An idealized, collective memory and/or myth about the ancestral home;
  • A continuing connection to a country of origin;
  • A strong group consciousness sustained over time; and
  • A sense of kinship with the same diaspora members in other countries.

World’s largest diasporas

The 2019 United Nations International Migration Report states that the Indian diaspora is the world's largest, with a population of 17.5 million.[3]

The second-biggest is the Mexican diaspora, with a population of 11.8 million (although this is not evident in our region).

However, the next biggest global diaspora is relevant, Chinese, with a population of 10.7 million.

Another significant and quite unique global diaspora is Filipino. 

In 2013, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) estimated that approximately 10.2 million people of Filipino descent lived or worked abroad.

What is truly remarkable about this is that the Filipino diaspora constitutes about 11 percent of the total population of the Philippines. As such it is one of the largest, most widespread diaspora populations, spanning over 100 countries.[4]

We will come back to this shortly.

Diasporas in Papua New Guinea

Due to a lack of official Census data, the following figures have been collected from a variety of sources.

The biggest diasporas in PNG are:

  • Filipino, estimated at 25,000 – 40,000 [5] [6]
  • Australian, estimated at 10,000 [10]
  • Malaysian, estimated at 8,000 [11]
  • Indian, estimated at 4,000 [12]

Worth noting is that the ‘old PNG-Chinese’ diaspora in PNG is estimated to be less than 1,000. This number, along with the number of Aussies in PNG, is likely to have dropped significantly over the past decade or two, as PNG tends to ‘entertain’ increasing numbers of Filipinos and Chinese.

Papua New Guinea diaspora in Australia

Australia is in the Top 10 countries of the world when it comes to hosting international immigrants. In this regard, given its relatively small population, Australia punches well above its weight.

Australia hosts the largest PNG diaspora with a population of 29,984 (2021 ABS Census).[13]

This figure refers to the number of Australian residents born in Papua New Guinea.

It is worth noting that 59.4% arrived in Australia before 1991.

The PNG diaspora living in Australia is almost three times as big as the Australian diaspora living in PNG.

Compared to Aussie diaspora in other countries, the network in PNG is relatively small. Globally, the three biggest Aussie diasporas are the UK (165,000), the USA (98,969), and NZ (75,696). The total estimate of Aussies living overseas is only 598,765.[14]

State-sponsored diaspora

Let’s go back to the Filipino diaspora, globally estimated at 10.2 million people, because this is where things get interesting.

An article published in January 2024 on the Migration Policy Institute website, suggests that the Philippines has struck a goldmine in having its Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) send back remittances amounting to billions of dollars each year.  

As the Philippines marks the 50th year of its labor export program and emerges from a global pandemic that chilled migration in unprecedented ways, the country is doubling down on its ambitions to serve as a provider of workers to the world. Emigration has been central to the Philippines’ economic growth since the 1974 Labor Code (Presidential Decree 442), which contained provisions regulating and encouraging the migration of laborers. Since then, millions of Filipino workers have sent back billions of dollars in remittances each year, creating a feedback loop in which emigration has spurred development, which in turn has made international migration seem all the more attractive.[15]

Remittance flows to the Philippines, which accounts for about 48 percent of the total remittances to East Asia and the Pacific Islands, excluding China, are projected to grow by about 5 percent to reach $42 billion in 2024.[16]

Visualising the money migration

This impressive infographic from The Visual Capitalist website shows the top 10 countries globally by personal remittances received, in current U.S. dollars, based on 2023 data from Knomad.[17]

 

Personal remittances are defined as the money sent between residents and non-residents, including both personal transfers and compensation for work done abroad.

The Visual Capitalist notes that, on a global scale, personal inbound remittances have risen 7x between 2000 and 2023.

Implications for PNG

As indicated in The Visual Economist infographic, Asian diaspora are more likely to send money home, rather than invest or accumulate their savings in their country of working residence.

By comparison, negligible remittances are flowing into Papua New Guinea from the relatively small numbers of PNG living overseas.[18]

Hence the black hole. 

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