Indians in the United Arab Emirates

Indians in the United Arab Emirates
Total population
3,420,000
35.0% of the UAE's population (2020)
Regions with significant populations
Abu Dhabi  Dubai  Sharjah
Languages
  Assamese  Bengali  Bhojpuri  Dogri  Gujarati  Hindi  Kannada  Kashmiri  Maithili  Malayalam  Marathi  Nepali  Odia  Punjabi  Rajasthani  Sindhi  Tamil  Telugu  Tulu  Urdu  Others Indian languages
Religion
Hinduism  Islam  Christianity  Sikhism  Jainism  Zoroastrianism  Buddhism  Baháʼí

Indians in the United Arab Emirates constitute the largest part of the population of the country. Over 3,860,000 Indian expats are estimated to be living in the United Arab Emirates, with over 38% of the country's total population and the second highest number of overseas Indians in the world after the United States, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Indian contact with the emirates that now constitute the UAE dates back several centuries, as a result of trade and commerce between the emirates and India. The UAE has experienced a tremendous increase in the population of resident Indians who initially migrated to the country as a result of opportunities in petroleum. Now, Indians are key to the UAE's construction, retail, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and transport sectors. A sizeable minority of Indian migrants are involved in professional services and entrepreneurship. Relations between India and the UAE have traditionally been very friendly.