Nepalese diaspora

Overseas Nepalese

Total population
c. 2,637,195 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Burma	1,005,069 [ citation needed ]
India	663,518 (2024) [1]
Malaysia	502,596 (2024) [1]
Saudi Arabia	297,561 (2024) [1]
Qatar	266,580 (2024) [1]
United States	264,317 (2024) [1]
Australia	197,472 (2024) [1]
Japan	185,644 (2024) [1]
South Korea	90,097 (2025) [2]
United Kingdom	64,000  (2018) [3]
Portugal	58,086 (2024) [4]
Bangladesh	52,621 (2024) [1]
Canada	29,554 (2024) [1]
Kuwait	26,292 (2024) [1]
United Arab Emirates	26,097 (2024) [1]
Thailand	20,000 [5]
Croatia	20,000 (2023) [6]
Oman	18,147 (2024) [1]
Hong Kong	15,950 [7]
Fiji	10,000 [ citation needed ]
Denmark	8,562 (2024) [1]
Singapore	7,000 (2019) [8]
New Zealand	6,832 (2024) [1]
Brunei	6,237 (2024) [1]
Belgium	5,887 (2024) [1]
Bahrain	2,641 (2024) [1]
Germany	5,705 (2019) [9]
Sri Lanka	5,000
France	5,000 (2019) [8]
Poland	4,400
Finland	4,232 (2024) [1]
Spain	4,301 (2019) [8]
Israel	3,599 (2019) [8]
China	3,500 [10]
Libya	3,064
Netherlands	3,000 (2019) [8]
Philippines	2,745 (2000 Philippines census)
Italy	2,550 (2024) [1]
Norway	2,483 (2024) [1]
Sweden	2,200 (2019) [8]
Vietnam	2,000 [11]
Romania	1,000 [11]
Bhutan	1,000 [11]
Austria	679 (2019) [8]
Russia	500 (2019) [8]
Languages
Nepali, Maithili, Nepal Bhasa and other Nepalese languages.
Religion
Hinduism  · Buddhism  · Christianity [12]  · Islam..KIRATI
Related ethnic groups
Nepalis (Nepalese), Madheshi (Nepalese)

Nepalese Diaspora or Non-Resident Nepalese are people of Nepalese ancestry or Nepalis who live abroad with different professions.

The Non-Resident Nepali Act of 2007, has defined Non-Resident Nepali (NRN) (Nepali : गैर आवासीय नेपाली, as person of Nepali origin (By birth, ancestry blood rights or by other means) who currently reside out of Nepal for any reason.

Nepali citizen residing abroad (आप्रवासी नेपाली/"Aaprabashi Nepali") means a Nepali citizen who has been residing in any foreign country for at least two years by doing any profession, occupation, business and employment except a Nepali citizen residing in a foreign country under the assignment of the Government of Nepal. Or a person of Nepali origin is a person of Nepali origin or ancestry who was or whose ancestors were born in Nepal or other nations with Nepali ancestry but is not a citizen of Nepal. ^[13] The Non-Resident Nepali Association was established by the conference held by 11–14 October 2003 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The seventh NRNA global conference was held on 14–17 October 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The mother tongue languages of Non Resident Nepalis are Nepali, Newari, Tharu, various Kirat languages, Limbu, Gurung, Magar, Maithili and Bhojpuri.

Activities

NRN are opening business opportunities in Nepal by investing in various sectors such as banking, tourism, hotel, hydropower and many more. Non-resident Nepali can acquire Nepali Citizenship as per the Nepal Citizenship (Third Amendment) Regulations 2080. According to the Act, Non-Resident Nepalis can acquire Non-Resident Nepali Citizenship as per Rule 8(a) of the Regulation. ^[14] NRNs can also obtain ID Card which provides the rights to Free Visa, Investment, Property Purchase, and Repatriation in Nepal. ^[15] A significant amount of Permits for overseas employment have been issued in recent time for Nepalese citizens. This promotes immigration for a large part of the population to find work and higher levels of education or escaping political instability in the country, being major reasons for Nepalese immigrants to migrate in the first place. ^[16]

Notable persons

• Amrita Acharia, actress
• Amita Suman, Nepalese British actress
• Anish Giri, chess Grandmaster
• Anupama Aura Gurung, Miss Nepal
• Balram Chainrai, businessman
• Bhaskar Thapa, Nepali American architect
• Daya Vaidya, actress
• Deepak Shimkhada
• Dichen Lachman, Australian actress
• Dipprasad Pun, military
• Dona Sarkar,
• Drona Prakash Rasali,
• Gaurika Singh, swimmer
• Hemant Mishra
• Jal Shah
• Jamuna Gurung, entrepreneur, philanthropist
• Jassita Gurung, Actress
• Jiba Lamichhane, businessman, writer
• Kiran Chetry, former CNN reporter
• Lachhiman Gurung, Victoria Cross recipient, British Indian Army
• Lujendra Ojha, scientist
• Manjushree Thapa, Canadian writer
• Manisha Koirala, Bollywood film actress
• Nabin Adhikari, Nepalese Australian Trade Union Leader & Worker Rights Activist
• Payal Shakya, Miss Nepal
• Prabal Gurung, fashion designer
• Ram Pratap Thapa, Nepali German diplomat
• Resh Marhatta, actor in Nepali film industry
• Samrat Upadhyay, author
• Santosh Shah, chef
• Sanu Sharma, Nepalese Australian writer
• Shesh Ghale, businessman
• Siddharth Koirala, Bollywood and Nepali film actor
• Sipora Gurung, Volleyball Player
• Shriya Shah-Klorfine
• Sofia Shah, Danish
• Sudarshan Gautam
• Teriya Magar, Dancer
• Upendra Mahato, businessman & politician

References

1. "International Migrant Stock". Population Division. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
2. "2025년 10월 출입국외국인정책 통계월보".
3. "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2018 to December 2018". Office for National Statistics. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2020. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals.
4. "Relatório Migrações e Asilo 2024" (PDF). aima.gov.pt (in European Portuguese). 16 October 2025. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
5. "Nepali diaspora". Archived from the original on 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
6. "International Migrants Day - Nepalese Workers in Croatia". 18 December 2023.
7. "Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities" (PDF). Publications and Products of the 2006 Population By-census (xvi). Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong. 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
8. "Migration in Nepal: A Country Profile 2019". 2019-12-18.
9. "Mapping the Nepalese Diaspora 2024".
10. "Start Kathmandu-Guangzhou flight: NRNs Archived 20 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine ", The Himalayan Times, 30 May 2011.
11. "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". 10 February 2014.
12. "GtR". gtr.ukri.org. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
13. "Non Resident Nepali Act 2064". Nepal Law Commission. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
14. "NRN Citizenship in Nepal: A 2-Day Service - NRN Services & Consulting". nrnlawnepal.com. 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
15. "NRN ID Card in Nepal: Reliable NRN Service in Nepal". nrnlawnepal.com. 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
16. Seo, Seonyoung (2019-03-01). "Temporalities of class in Nepalese labour migration to South Korea" . Current Sociology. 67 (2): 186–205. doi:10.1177/0011392118792925. ISSN   0011-3921.

External links

• Non Resident Nepali Association
• Non Resident Nepali Association europe
• Non Resident Nepali Act, 2007