9.2 lakh Indians became citizens of OECD countries from 2020 to 2024

More than nine lakh Indians became citizens of countries that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development between 2020 and 2024, according to the International Migration Outlook report published by the intergovernmental forum.

The members of the 38-country intergovernmental forum are often considered to be the world’s most developed economies.

The number of Indians acquiring citizenship in these countries increased to 9.2 lakh in the 2020 to 2024 period from 6.5 lakh between 2015 and 2019, a jump of 41%.

The strong increase was attributed to the growth of Indians who had previously moved to these countries, often on temporary visas, and later acquired citizenship. Canada accounted for the largest share, with 2.6 lakh Indians becoming Canadian citizens between 2020 and 2024. This marked an increase of 150% compared to the 2015-2019 period.

The number of Indians acquiring citizenship in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia was also high, the organisation’s report showed.

Canada, the US, Australia, the UK and New Zealand were the top countries for Indians looking to acquire citizenship, it noted. In 2024, nearly 2.3 lakh Indians received passports in these countries.

In December 2025, the Union government had also said that nearly nine lakh persons had relinquished their Indian citizenship between 2020 and 2024.

The Ministry of External Affairs had told Parliament that 85,256 persons gave up their citizenship in 2020, 1.6 lakh in 2021, 2.2 lakh in 2022, 2.1 lakh in 2023 and 2 lakh in 2024.

Migration patterns

India was the second-largest contributor of students to the bloc’s member states in 2024, with 8.2 lakh Indians enrolled in universities, following China’s 8.5 lakh.

The gap between the two countries narrowed considerably in the past decade as the number of Indian students in OECD states nearly quadrupled between 2015 and 2024, the report said.

Overall migration to the 38 member states declined in 2024. The global average decline in permanent migration to the bloc was 4.7% in 2024 and 1.6% in 2025.

Migration flows from India declined even more sharply, by 19%, than the rest of the world. Less than five lakh Indians migrated to the bloc in 2024. Despite this, India remained the top country of origin.

The International Migration Outlook report cited the main reason for this decline to migration from India to the UK halving in 2024 from the previous year, to only 66,000 persons.

The migration of Indian citizens to the other countries of the bloc, including Australia, Canada and the US, “also dropped but only slightly”, the report said.

Written by Abeer Khan. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.