The "quick friend count" seen when tapping on one's profile image in the upper right corner, the count above "Add Friends" and below "Edit Profile", includes not only one's current friends, but also counts any pending invites as if they are already accepted.

Latest stable from Google Play
Redmi Note 9
Android 12
MIUI 13.0.3.0

Edit: It also does not decrease after canceling any of these invites, until a full restart of the app.