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Where Indians live abroad in 2025-26: Top 10 countries with the largest diaspora led by US

Top 10 countries with the largest Indian diaspora in 2025-26: India has the world’s largest overseas diaspora, with approximately 35.4 million Indians living abroad, and the United States hosting the largest share, as of January 2025.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 5, 2026 05:56 AM IST

Top 10 countries hosting the largest Indian diaspora (2025–26): The United States leads globally.

Top 10 countries with the largest Indian overseas population in 2025-26: Throughout history, people have migrated in search of opportunity, safety, and improved living standards.

Today, migration has reached unprecedented levels, with a record number of individuals residing outside their countries of birth, and India is no exception.

India, currently the world’s most populous country with an estimated population of 1.4286 billion (142.86 crore) according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 2023, also ranks first globally in emigration.

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It has the largest overseas diaspora, with approximately 35.4 million Indians living abroad.

According to figures presented in Parliament by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Pabitra Margherita, the global Indian diaspora previously comprised around 15.9 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and 19.5 million Persons of Indian origin (PIOs).

More recent data, shared by Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, indicates a shift in these numbers.

As of January 2025, there are approximately 17.17 million NRIs and 17.18 million PIOs residing worldwide.

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Where do Indians live abroad?

The United States hosts the largest Indian population abroad, with 5.69 million people.

This includes 3.78 million PIOs, who are descendants of earlier migrants, and 1.92 million NRIs, who are Indian citizens living abroad, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, India.

Following the US, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranks second, with an estimated 13.39 million overseas Indians, largely driven by 3.89 million NRIs, making it the country with the highest concentration of Indian citizens outside India.

Other Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, also attract significant numbers of Indian migrant workers.

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In the Asia Pacific, Malaysia stands out with 2.75 million PIOs, the highest concentration of descendants of historic Indian migrants, while countries like Australia and Singapore also host sizeable Indian communities.

Top 10 countries by overseas Indian population, as of January 2025

United States

North America

Total Overseas Indians

5.69M

PIOs: 3.78 million (66%)

NRIs: 1.92 million (34%)

United Arab Emirates

Middle East

Total Overseas Indians

3.90M

PIOs: 6,614 (0.2%)

NRIs: 3.89 million (99.8%)

Canada

North America

Total Overseas Indians

3.61M

PIOs: 1.86 million (51%)

NRIs: 1.75 million (49%)

Malaysia

Southeast Asia

Total Overseas Indians

2.94M

PIOs: 2.75 million (94%)

NRIs: 185,000 (6%)

Saudi Arabia

Middle East

Total Overseas Indians

2.75M

PIOs: 0 (0%)

NRIs: 2.75 million (100%)

Sri Lanka

South Asia

Total Overseas Indians

1.61M

PIOs: 1.60 million (99.5%)

NRIs: 7,500 (0.5%)

South Africa

Africa

Total Overseas Indians

1.39M

PIOs: 1.32 million (95%)

NRIs: 74,057 (5%)

United Kingdom

Western Europe

Total Overseas Indians

1.34M

PIOs: 971,000 (72%)

NRIs: 369,000 (28%)

Kuwait

Middle East

Total Overseas Indians

1.01M

PIOs: 2,356 (0.2%)

NRIs: 1.01 million (99.8%)

#10

Australia

Oceania

Total Overseas Indians

976K

PIOs: 626,000 (64%)

NRIs: 350,000 (36%)

Source: Ministry of External Affairs, India (January 2025) • PIOs: Persons of Indian Origin • NRIs: Non-Resident Indians

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Cherry Gupta

Cherry Gupta is an Assistant Manager – Content at The Indian Express. She leads the Top 10 section, curating list-based features on key national and international developments, and manages daily news content. She also produces SEO-driven articles and collaborates with the Lifestyle team to conduct interviews with notable artists and write workplace culture features. ... Read More