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Ranked: Top Countries by Population of Chinese Immigrants

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Ranked: Top Countries by Overseas Chinese Population

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This graphic ranks the top 12 countries (excluding China) by the size of their Chinese population as of 2023, based on data accessed via Statista.

Nearby countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia have the largest Chinese population, with the U.S. in a close fourth place.

Data and Takeaways

The numbers we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below.

CountryChinese Immigrants
(millions)
🇮🇩 Indonesia11.2
🇹🇭 Thailand7.0
🇲🇾 Malaysia6.9
🇺🇸 U.S.5.8
🇸🇬 Singapore3.1
🇨🇦 Canada2.0
🇦🇺 Australia1.5
🇫🇷 France0.8
🇿🇦 South Africa0.5
🇬🇧 UK0.5
🇮🇹 Italy0.3
🇳🇿 New Zealand0.3

As mentioned above, Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia have some of the largest populations of Chinese people. This is due to these countries’ various historical and cultural ties with China.

In fact, many of these people are descendants from Chinese immigrants who moved to Southeast Asia generations ago.

This differs from Western countries like Australia and Canada, where much of the Chinese population has arrived in the past few decades.

China’s Wealthy are Leaving

While China is not the largest source of the world’s emigrants (it falls behind India and Mexico), it does take first place when it comes to high net worth individuals (HNWIs) leaving.

For example, in 2023, over 13,000 HNWIs emigrated from China, with their top destinations being the U.S., Canada, and Singapore. A HNWI is someone with at least $1 million in liquid financial assets, excluding their primary home.

The number of HNWIs leaving China is expected to climb to 15,200 in 2024, as covered in one of our previous graphics.

This would be the biggest exodus ever recorded, driven by China’s slowing economy, real estate challenges, and regulatory crackdowns.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed this graphic, check out The Top Destinations for Immigrants: 1995 vs 2020 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

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