Indians continue to top the list of people acquiring citizenship in advanced economies, with around 9.25 lakh Indian citizens acquiring the nationality of an OECD member country between 2020 and 2024, according to the 'International Migration Outlook - 2026' report released on Thursday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), reports Lubna Kably.The figure marks a sharp increase of 41% from just over 6.5 lakh Indians who acquired citizenship of OECD member countries during 2015-2019. India remains the largest country of former nationality among those acquiring citizenship in OECD member countries, ahead of Syria and Mexico.OECD countries took nearly 87L new citizens during 2020-2024India remains ahead of Syria and Mexico. whose nationals accounted for around 5.9 lakh citizenships in OECD countries each during the five-year period 2020–2024.Interestingly, while China was the sixth largest source country whose nationals acquired OECD member country citizenship, the numbers fell by nearly 12% to 3.4 lakh in 2020-24 as compared to the previous five-year period. OECD comprises 38 member countries – notably US, UK, European nations, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.According to…
Indians top again: 9.3L get OECD citizenships in 5 years
In short
Between 2020 and 2024, nearly 9.25 lakh Indian nationals were granted citizenship across OECD nations, reflecting a 41% surge compared to the prior five-year period. Canada, the United States, and Australia served as the primary destinations driving this naturalization trend in 2024. Despite this peak in acquired citizenships, the broader influx of new Indian migrants actually declined by 19% in 2024 compared to 2023 levels. Meanwhile, international education data reveals that the student enrollment gap between India and China has narrowed significantly across the 38-nation bloc.
Key points
- Naturalization numbers for Indian nationals grew substantially over five years even as th…: Naturalization numbers for Indian nationals grew substantially over five years even as the annual flow of new incoming migrants decelerated during 2024.
- Member nations are urged to actively leverage immigrant skill sets to offset economic cha…: Member nations are urged to actively leverage immigrant skill sets to offset economic challenges stemming from aging workforces and slower productivity gains.
- Chinese naturalizations declined by nearly 12% to 3.4 lakh over the five-year timeframe,…: Chinese naturalizations declined by nearly 12% to 3.4 lakh over the five-year timeframe, while its total student lead over India diminished.