Over 70% of Indian suicides abroad occur in Gulf countries, MEA data shows
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Over 70% of Indian suicides abroad occur in Gulf countries, MEA data shows")
Representative image. Photograph: (Wikimedia Commons)
Over 70 per cent of these cases occurred in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), followed by Malaysia (131) and the United States (62), while Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom each recorded over 30 cases during the three years.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) data provided in Parliament revealed that over the last three years, 1,340 Indian citizens died by suicide in Gulf countries. Of these, 511 cases were found in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), followed by Saudi Arabia (354), Kuwait (162), Oman (146), Bahrain (101) and Qatar (66).
The Ministry has found in its report that between 2023 and 2025, more than 1,900 Indians living abroad died by suicide. Over 70 per cent of these cases took place in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), with Malaysia (131) and the United States (62) following, and Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom recording over 30 cases each in the three years.
Roughly one crore Indian citizens and people of Indian origin currently reside in Gulf countries. These figures were shared by Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, during the ongoing Parliament session in the Lok Sabha, in response to a query raised by Congress MPs Satpal Brahamchari and Jai Prakash regarding the "review of death of Indian citizens abroad."
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Uptick of average suicide rate
Compared to previously released figures, the average rate of suicide among Indian citizens abroad appears to have risen. The MEA reported in 2022 that 4,005 such deaths occurred between 2014 and 2022. While no specific explanation was offered for the uptick, the minister noted that the government has implemented “several measures and steps such as Pravasi Bhartiya Bima Yojna (PBBY) have been taken by the Government of India to ensure the well-being and protection of Indian workers overseas”.
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“The PBBY is a mandatory insurance scheme for all Emigration Check Required (ECR) category workers going to ECR countries,” Singh said. The scheme comes with an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability along with other benefits at a nominal insurance premium of Rs 275 for two years or Rs 375 for three years. As per the latest data released by the government also revealed that the deaths of Indian citizens are due to natural causes, workplace accidents, suicide, crime and other reasons.
What is killing Indians abroad?
The MEA data covering 2023-25 indicates that natural causes remain the leading reason behind the deaths of Indians in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations, with Saudi Arabia recording 6,376 such deaths, followed closely by the UAE at 5,702, Kuwait at 1,672, Oman at 1,092, Qatar at 783, and Bahrain at 703.
Workplace accidents also emerged as a significant cause of fatalities, particularly in Saudi Arabia (182 cases) and the UAE (128 cases), reflecting the large number of Indian workers employed in labour-intensive sectors such as construction across these countries. Kuwait recorded 62 workplace accident deaths, while Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain reported 38, 23, and 10 cases respectively.
On suicides, the UAE reported the highest number among all GCC nations at 511 cases, even surpassing Saudi Arabia, which recorded 354 despite having a higher overall death toll. Kuwait recorded 162 suicide cases, followed by Oman (146), Bahrain (101), and Qatar (66).
Crime-related deaths remained comparatively low across the region, with Saudi Arabia recording the highest at 29 cases, followed by Kuwait (10), Bahrain (2), and both Oman and Qatar reporting zero crime-related fatalities during the period. Meanwhile, deaths attributed to "other reasons", a category encompassing causes outside the four specified, were notably high in the UAE (1,092) and Saudi Arabia (1,040), followed by Kuwait (285), Oman (222), Qatar (102), and Bahrain (43).
