'Cleaner air, better water quality...': Investment banker on why Indians are giving up citizenship

The pace at which Indians are giving up their citizenship has accelerated sharply in recent years, underscoring a major demographic and economic trend. Highlighting this shift, investment banker CA Sarthak Ahuja said in a recent post that nearly two million people have renounced Indian citizenship over the past 15 years, with almost half of that number concentrated in just the last five years.

According to Ahuja, the annual average of Indians giving up their citizenship stood at around 1.3 lakh between 2011 and 2019. In recent years, however, that figure has jumped significantly to about 2.2 lakh annually, pointing to a clear surge in emigration-linked citizenship changes.

Official data presented in Parliament supports this observation. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Rajya Sabha that nearly nine lakh Indians have surrendered their citizenship over the past five years alone. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, in a written reply, said the government maintains year-wise records of individuals who formally renounce their nationality. Between 2011 and 2019, as many as 11,89,194 Indians gave up their citizenship. In total, more than 20 lakh people have renounced Indian citizenship over the last 14 years, reflecting a steady and rising trend.

Explaining the reasons behind this movement, Ahuja noted that while India is among the world’s fastest-growing economies, a large portion of economic gains is concentrated at the top. He argued that excluding the top 5% of earners sharply lowers the country’s average per capita income, prompting many to seek more equitable growth opportunities overseas. For many Indians, this journey begins with education abroad, followed by employment, and eventually a switch in citizenship after meeting residency requirements.

Quality-of-life factors also play a role. Cleaner air, better water quality and stronger public infrastructure continue to attract Indian professionals. Ahuja pointed out that nearly 75,000 Indian doctors are currently working overseas, around 67% of academics prefer positions abroad, and an estimated one-third of IIT graduates migrate to other countries.

The preferred destinations for Indian emigrants have traditionally been the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and Germany. However, tightening immigration policies in some of these countries have shifted opportunities toward nations such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Australia, Finland, Japan and New Zealand. According to Ahuja, sectors like information technology and medicine continue to offer the strongest prospects for Indians seeking careers abroad.

Indian citizenship renunciation

Annual numbers climbed steadily from ~1.2-1.4 lakh in the early 2010s to peaks above 2 lakh post-2021. The COVID dip in 2020 (85,256) proved temporary, as renunciations rebounded sharply.

Year-Wise Renunciations (2011-2024)

Year    Count 2011    1,22,819 2012    1,20,923 2013    1,31,405 2014    1,29,328 2015    1,31,489 2016    1,41,603 2017    1,33,049 2018    1,34,561 2019    1,44,017 2020    85,256 2021    1,63,370 2022    2,25,620 2023    2,16,219 2024    2,06,378

Post-2020 averages exceed 2.1 lakh annually—nearly double the 2011-2019 rate of ~1.3 lakh. This exodus reflects skilled migration amid global opportunities, though it raises concerns over brain drain.