This article collects the size of the Indian community in other countries as stated in Diplo's country guides. It is compiled from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral briefs summarised in Diplo's country guides, and each figure is quoted exactly as the brief gives it, in the brief's own number format, with the brief's month in the last column. The briefs do not count in the same way. Some count Indian nationals, some count persons of Indian origin (PIOs), some combine both, and some cite a national census of a particular year. For that reason this article does not add the figures together or rank countries.
How to read the figures
Three kinds of count appear in the tables below. The first is Indian nationals, sometimes called non-resident Indians (NRIs), who hold Indian passports. The second is persons of Indian origin, who are citizens of the host country with Indian ancestry. The third is a combined figure for the whole diaspora. A figure from one country is therefore often not comparable with a figure from another. Several briefs also use the Indian system of grouping digits, such as 3,15,000 or 6.2 lakhs, and these are reproduced unchanged.
The Gulf
| Country | What the brief states | Brief | |---|---|---| | United Arab Emirates | The UAE is home to 4.3 million Indians | April 2026 | | Saudi Arabia | The Indian community numbers approximately 2.74 million | May 2026 | | Kuwait | Indian nationals are the largest expatriate community, numbering 1.05 million of 5.4 million | September 2026 | | Qatar | The Indian community numbers around 830,000; Indians are the largest expatriate community | July 2026 | | Oman | Approximately 674,950 as on February 2026, according to the Government of Oman | July 2026 | | Bahrain | More than 3,15,000 Indian nationals, nearly a quarter of the total population of 1.5 million; over 3,15,427 as of January 2026 | June 2026 |
North America, Europe and Oceania
Several of these briefs cite national census figures.
| Country | What the brief states | Brief | |---|---|---| | United States | About 5.4 million Indian Americans and people of Indian origin, including around 2.07 million NRIs | February 2026 | | United Kingdom | An Indian diaspora of 1.864 million, as per the 2021 Census | July 2026 | | Canada | More than 1.8 million Indo-Canadians and an estimated 1 million non-resident Indians | July 2026 | | Australia | Over 9,76,000, about 3% of the total population, according to the Australian Census 2021 | June 2026 | | New Zealand | 292,092 persons of Indian ethnicity according to Census 2023; around 70,000 estimated Indian passport holders | July 2026 | | Germany | Close to 3,22,000 Indian passport holders and Indian-origin people | June 2026 | | Italy | Indian nationals numbered 1,86,833 as of January 2025, the seventh largest foreign community in Italy | May 2026 | | Netherlands | Approximately 300,000 members of the Indian diaspora, including around 200,000 members of the Surinami Hindustani community | May 2026 | | France | About 119,000 in mainland France; over 350,000 Indian-origin people in the French Overseas Territories | July 2026 | | Ireland | Approx. 80,000 Indian origin persons, of whom approx. 33,898 are PIOs and approx. 40,000 are NRIs | May 2026 |
Asia
| Country | What the brief states | Brief | |---|---|---| | Malaysia | An estimated 2.9 million members of the Indian diaspora; PIOs estimated at 2.75 million; about 160,000 Indian nationals | June 2026 | | Myanmar | Estimates of people of Indian origin range from 1.5 to 2.5 million; an NRI community of about 5,000 | June 2026 | | Sri Lanka | Indian Origin Tamils numbering about 1.5 million; about 7500 NRIs | June 2026 | | Singapore | People of Indian origin are 9% of the resident population of 4.04 million, per the Singapore Census of Population 2020 | July 2026 | | Japan | Around 59,000 Indians live in Japan | June 2026 | | Israel | Over 100,000 Jews of Indian origin who are Israeli passport holders | February 2026 |
Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and the Caribbean
Some briefs also give historical background. The Fiji guide records, from the MEA brief of June 2026, that between 1879 and 1916 around 60,553 Indians were taken to Fiji. The South Africa guide records, from the MEA brief of April 2026, that 2010 marked the 150th anniversary of the first arrival of Indians in South Africa.
| Country | What the brief states | Brief | |---|---|---| | South Africa | Around 1.7 million, about 3% of South Africa's total population | April 2026 | | Kenya | Around 80,000 persons of Indian origin, including an estimated 20,000 Indian citizens | March 2026 | | Mauritius | 26,786 Indian nationals and 16,877 OCI card holders | April 2026 | | Fiji | Around 300,000 persons of Indian origin (37%) and around 2,300 Indian nationals (2024) | June 2026 | | Suriname | The Indian diaspora is over 27% of a population of about 6.2 lakhs | June 2026 | | Guyana | About 1500 Indian nationals | June 2026 |
Additional detail in the briefs
Some briefs describe where the community lives or works. According to the MEA brief on South Africa of April 2026, about 80% of the community lives in KwaZulu Natal, about 15% in Gauteng and the remaining 5% in Cape Town. The MEA brief on Italy of May 2026 records that Rome has 22,225 Indian nationals and that Milan is home to around 60,000. The MEA brief on Oman of July 2026 states that, according to Oman's National Centre for Statistics and Information for May 2026, 526,496 Indian nationals hold work visas. The MEA brief on Bahrain of June 2026 records that there were only 90,000 Indian nationals working in Bahrain in the year 2000.
This article is a selection. Countries whose briefs give no community figure are not listed, and neither are some that do. Each country guide sets out what its brief says about the community, including associations, schools and awards.