Around one-third of Nepali return migrant workers did not pay any recruitment fees or related costs while going abroad for employment, while nearly two-thirds had to bear such expenses, according to a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) for the first time in Nepal.
The survey titled ‘The Cost of Labour Migration in Nepal: Evidence from the 2023 Recruitment Cost Survey of Migrant Workers’ found that 34.7 per cent of international return migrant workers reported paying zero recruitment fees or related costs to secure jobs abroad.
However, 65.3 per cent of returnees said they had paid recruitment-related expenses during the migration process.
Women return migrant workers were significantly more likely to report zero recruitment costs, with 54.2 per cent of female return migrant workers reporting paying nothing, compared with 33.2 per cent of male returnees – a gap of roughly 21 percentage points.
This suggests women may have accessed more employer-paid recruitment pathways or roles with fees absorbed upstream.
Across broad sectors, return migrant workers who had been employed in the services sector showed the highest zero-cost share at 37.2 per cent, compared with 32.8 per cent in industry and 29.5 per cent in agriculture.
The elevated share of services workers could reflect job types (domestic work, hospitality) where placement fees are more often covered by employers or regulated intermediaries, relative to the other sectors.
The survey was conducted in 2023 using a stratified two-stage household sampling design, covered 3,742 households nationwide and produced reliable national-level estimates.
Based on the survey, Nepal’s total population was estimated at 29.6 million, of which 2.45 million (8.3 per cent) were return international migrants.
Among these, 1.61 million (5.4 per cent) were return international migrant workers – individuals who had previously worked abroad and returned to Nepal. Of this group, 253,686 (15.7 per cent) had migrated within the past five years for wage employment, forming the core analytical sample for recruitment cost indicators.
Dhundi Raj Lamichhane, Deputy Chief Statistician and Spokesperson at the National Statistics Office (NSO), said that paying recruitment fees and related costs by two-thirds of Nepali migrant workers has remained a financial challenge for them.
He said that requiring migrant workers to bear such costs is against the guidelines of the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment state, “No recruitment fees or related costs should be charged to, or otherwise borne by, workers or jobseekers” (ILO 2019, 13), and as noted above, this admonition is also found in the ILO Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181), which prohibits private recruitment agencies from charging recruitment fees or costs to jobseekers.
Lamichhane said that the first-ever survey would be an important milestone in the ongoing effort to generate reliable, evidence-based data to inform policymaking in the labour migration sector.
“Yet, the costs borne by Nepali migrant workers during the recruitment process remain a critical issue to be addressed. This provides valuable insights into the recruitment cost incurred by Nepali migrant workers when seeking international labour migration,” he said.
Reducing the costs associated with migration can substantially boost remittance flows and accelerate development in origin countries like Nepal.
Lower expenses also contribute to stronger protections for migrant workers, as those who arrive in destination countries burdened by debt are more susceptible to exploitation.
The highest recruitment costs often arise from complex networks of intermediaries operating in both sending and receiving countries.
On average, 3.3 months’ earnings go to recover recruitment costs
The report shows that Nepali migrant workers spend an average of 3.3 months of their overseas earnings to recover the costs incurred during the recruitment process.
The Recruitment Cost Indicator (RCI), aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 10.7.1, showed that women faced a higher financial burden than men. On an average basis, women required 4.5 months of earnings to recover recruitment costs, compared to 3.2 months for men.
Based on the median values, migrants required 3.7 months of earnings to offset their recruitment costs.
The survey also found that workers who obtained jobs through unregistered brokers faced the highest recruitment burden, requiring an average of 4.8 months of earnings to cover costs. Those using registered recruitment agencies faced a burden of 3.6 months.
Workers who found jobs through family and friends had the lowest median recruitment burden, requiring only 0.6 months of earnings to offset recruitment costs.
Those who had worked in the industry sector reported the highest average burden (3.7 months), followed by services (3.1 months) and agriculture (2.2 months).
Average monthly salary is Rs. 54,403
The survey found that the average monthly earning of return migrant workers stood at Rs. 54,403, while the median income was Rs. 44,500, indicating a right-skewed distribution where a minority of high earners elevate the average.
Male returnee migrant workers reported slightly higher earnings than their female counterparts.
Men earned an average of Rs. 54,721 per month, with a median income of Rs. 44,505, while women earned an average of Rs. 48,647 and a median of Rs. 30,920
In terms of destinations, Malaysia offered the highest average earnings at Rs. 57,696 per month, followed by Qatar and the United Arab Emirates with around Rs. 55,000. India recorded the lowest average earnings at Rs. 26,083.
Workers in the services sector recorded the highest average earnings at Rs. 65,345 per month, followed by industry at Rs. 46,182 and agriculture at Rs. 34,528.
High-skilled workers earned the most, with an average monthly income of Rs. 69,891.
Women bear higher migration costs than men
Women migrant workers tend to bear higher and more unequal migration-related costs compared to men. The survey found that the average migration cost for returnee migrant workers stood at Rs. 178,922, while the median cost was Rs. 166,000. However, significant differences were observed between male and female migrant workers.
Male returnee migrant workers incurred an average migration cost of Rs. 176,686, with a median of Rs. 170,000, showing a relatively small gap of Rs. 6,686 between the two measures.
In contrast, women faced a much higher average cost of Rs. 219,362, but their median cost was only Rs. 120,000, creating a wide gap of Rs. 99,362.
Recruitment costs were highest for workers migrating to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Malaysia, where median costs exceeded Rs. 200,000. India was the least expensive destination, with a median recruitment cost of Rs. 16,000.
By sector and skill, the services sector and high-skill occupations attract the highest costs, migration to work in agriculture is the least expensive.
