The dataset contains Middle Pleistocene to recent planktonic foraminiferal assemblage count for IODP Expedition 361, Hole U1474A. This site is located in the southwest Indian Ocean (Agulhas region). Its position is ideal to reconstruct the paleoceanographic variability in the Indian Ocean induced by the interaction between the warm and oligotrophic Agulhas Current and the cold and nutrient-enriched Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Data included in this dataset allowed to characterize the different water masses involved, variations in the thermocline and long-term variations in the ACC since the Middle Pleistocene. Planktonic foraminifera were identified and counted using a Zeiss Discovery V8 stereo zoom binocular microscope.