The Census Organization of Iran has released its latest report on the number of Iranians living abroad, identifying the United States as the country with the largest number of Iranians expatriates.
The Mehr news agency quoted Mohsen Karami, the deputy head of identification documents at the Census Organization, saying: “The United States has the most Iranian immigrants at 1.4 million, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 800,000 Iranians.”
An estimated 410,000 Iranians are reported to be living in the UK and Canada, another 210,000 in Germany, 155,000 in France and 110,000 in Sweden.
Karami previously had said that in the past two years, the United States has been the top destination for Iranians going into exile, with the UAE and the UK their second and third most popular destinations.
Australia, Turkey, the Netherlands, Malaysia, India and Belgium are other countries identified by the Census Organization as places where Iranian immigrants have settled.
Following the controversial 2009 presidential elections, a wave Iranians left the country because of the widespread government crackdown on protesters.
Meanwhile, the brain drain has been a longstanding issue facing the country as many students leave Iran to continue their studies and often end up settling abroad and not returning to Iran.
