Nearly 500,000 left for foreign employment in seven months

KATHMANDU: Nearly 500,000 youths left the country for foreign employment over the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2024/25.

According to the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), 463,105 youths left for foreign employment between Shravan (mid-July 2024) to Magh (mid-February 2025). A total of 72,000 youths left for foreign employment in the month of Magh alone.

In the first seven months of 2023/24, 405,000 youths had received labor approval to work abroad.

Loknath Bhusal, a director at DoFE, told Himal Press that 59,575 youths left for foreign employment in Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), 57,493 in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), 53,525 in Ashwin (mid-September to mid-October), 70,950 in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), 84,226 in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), 65,336 in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) and 72,000 in Magh (January-February). “An average of 2,400 Nepali youths left for foreign employment every day in the month of Magh,” Bhusal added.

According to DoFE, Nepali youths left for 98 countries for employment in Magh. The UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were the top employment destinations for Nepali youths during the review month.

“Looking at the data of the first seven months of the current fiscal year, an average of 2,203 people are leaving the country daily and 66,092 people every month,” Bhusal.

The department estimates that the number of youths leaving for foreign employment will reach 800,000 in the current fiscal year.