Nepal’s attraction to foreign employment declines, labour permits down by 5.6 per cent

Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: The number of Nepalis going abroad for foreign employment has declined in the fiscal year 2082/83. According to the Department of Foreign Employment, a total of 792,187 labour permits were issued in the last fiscal year, including new labour permit and re-labour permit.

This is 47,079 or 5.6 percent less than 839,266 in the previous fiscal year 2081/82. At a time when Nepal’s economy is heavily dependent on remittances, the decline in the number of people going for foreign employment has become a matter of concern for the economy.

According to the Department, the departure of Nepali workers was also affected during the review period as flights to the Gulf countries were affected due to the US-Iran war.

Of the total work permits issued in the last fiscal year, 6,97,096 were for males and 95,091 for females. Statistics show that 88 per cent of the total labour permits are male and 12 per cent female.

According to the statistics of the Department, the number of Nepalis going abroad through licensed foreign employment entrepreneurs (manpower companies) has decreased significantly. In the last fiscal year, 2,68,990 people went abroad through manpower companies. Last year, the number was 359,675.

Similarly, the number of individuals going abroad with new work permit has reached 128,520. Of them, 98,841 are male and 29,679 are female. The share of women in the group going abroad on an individual basis is 23.09 percent, which is more than double the proportion of women going abroad through manpower companies.

In the last fiscal year, 8,197 Nepali workers went abroad under the government-to-government (G2G) system. Of them, 6,945 are male and 1,252 are female.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as the largest destination for Nepali migrant workers. In the last fiscal year, 183,580 Nepali workers took work permit for the UAE, which is 23.17 percent of the total approvals.

This is followed by 132,646 (16.74 per cent) in Malaysia, 132,051 (16.67 per cent) in Qatar, 124,583 (15.73 per cent) in Saudi Arabia and 43,360 (5.47 per cent) in Kuwait. A total of 616,220 Nepalis have reached these five countries alone, which is 77.79 percent of the total work permits.

Romania has emerged as the biggest destination for Nepali migrant workers in Europe. In the last fiscal year, 33,920 people took work permit for Romania. Likewise, Japan (22,266), Oman (11,633), Cyprus (11,069) and Bahrain (9,336) are the major destinations for Nepali workers.