Over 1 Million Indians Renounced Citizenship Since 2019

According to new data from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, over 1 million Indian citizens have voluntarily renounced their passports between 2019 and 2024.

The information was shared in Parliament during the 2025 monsoon session, confirming a rising trend in citizenship renunciations, especially in the last three years.

Citizenship Renunciations Cross 200,000 Annually Since 2022

The official year-by-year breakdown is as follows:

• 2019: 144,017
• 2020: 85,256
• 2021: 163,370
• 2022: 225,620
• 2023: 216,219
• 2024: 206,378

Since 2022, more than 200,000 Indian nationals have renounced their citizenship each year, with the highest figure recorded in 2022.

Indians Relinquishing Citizenship Across 135 Countries

According to the MEA, Indian nationals have renounced their citizenship in favour of foreign passports across approximately 135 countries.

This includes both traditional immigration destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Germany, as well as less common countries like Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, Iceland, and the Vatican.

India’s overseas population continues to grow steadily. As per the latest government data, there are approximately 13 million Indian nationals living abroad today, including skilled professionals, labourers, and business owners.