International migration in Nepal started with the recruitment of physically strong youth by the British
Army. Recently,Nepal has observed a rapid increase of absent population over census periods. In
the 2001 census, 762,181 persons were reported to be absent. The fgure went up to 1,921,494, more
than doubled in 2011. The emigration rate for 2011 is estimated at 10.77 per thousand populations,
whereas the immigration rate for the same period stands at 0.46 per thousand populations. The
gross migration rate and the net migration rate are respectively calculated as 11.23 and -10.32
per thousand populations. Data on both the foreign-born population and foreign citizens indicate
a fuctuating trend, which may pose questions about the reliability of these data. In 1961, the
percentage of the foreign born population was nearly 4.1% of the total population,it decreased to
1.6% in 1981 and increased to 2.4% in 1991, 2.7% in 2001 and 1.8% in 2011. The number of foreign
citizens, as recorded by various censuses, shows a fuctuating trend. Foreign citizens in 1961 were
1.2% of the total population, which increased to over 3% in 1981, before declining to 0.5% from
1991, the same fgure as recorded in 2011. Data on international migration largely depends on the
government’s policies towards employment in foreign countries. So far the government has adopted
a policy to encourage youth to work abroad, hoping that they will fnd employment there and provide
remittance for the country’s overall development. However, whether youth get employed abroad or
within the country needs to be an informed choice and the government needs to act as a facilitator.