115,672 left the country for employment in two months

KATHMANDU: A total of 115,672 youths left the country for foreign employment in the first two months of the current fiscal year. This is 9% more compared to the data from the first two months of fiscal year 2023/24.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), a total of 106,459 had obtained labor approvals to work abroad in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Data released by the DoFE shows that 59,575 youths received labor approvals in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September) and another 57,493 in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August).

Over the past three years, 2.25 million Nepali youths have traveled to 93 countries in search of employment, according to the DoFE.

Gurudutta Subedi, the information officer at DoFE, said more than 700,000 youths leave for foreign employment every year. Malaysia and the Middle East have been the preferred employment destinations for Nepali workers. However, the number of Nepalis heading to European countries has been increasing in recent years.

Subedi attributed the rise in the number of people going abroad to factors such as fully online labor approval services, worker-friendly legal reforms, and increasing demand from employer countries.