Chapter 15 Internal Migration in Nepal - Central Bureau of Statistics

15.5 Summary and Conclusion
15.5.1 Summary
In 2001, Nepal had a population of 23.15 million with an annual growth rate of 2.25 per cent.
High fertility rate of 4.1 children per woman and a huge population in the reproductive age will
continue to exasperate poverty and increase migration in Nepal.
In 2003, Nepal's population is estimated to have reached 25.1 million with a density of 179
persons per square kilometer. Nepal ranked 143 rd in human development index of 2003. Every
two in five persons in Nepal lives below absolute poverty line and every other person in the rural
area is poor. Poverty, high unemployment and underemployment (17.4 and 32.3%) have
compelled people to remain either under severe poverty or migrate to other places within and
outside the country for better opportunity for livelihood.
The uneven distribution of population has led to a high disparity in population density in different
ecological zones. The Tarai zone had the highest density of population since 1952/54 followed by
hills and mountains. Population density in Nepal increased dramatically over time reaching 157
persons per square kilometer in 2001 and would reach 200 persons per square kilometer by 2005
at the present rate of population growth rate.
The absolute volume of inter-district migration increased by 7 times during the last 40 years and
that of inter-regional migration volume increased by 4 times since 1971. The volume of life-time
migration at the district level increased from 1.7 million in 1991 to 2.9 million in 2001. This
constituted 13.2 per cent of the total native born population in Nepal. Migration streams from one
region to another were directed towards their own neighbouring regions.
Preliminary analysis suggests that there is a high incidence of poverty in the regions experiencing
net negative migration and that regions of in-migration are relatively better off in development
indicators. People in Nepal are migrating from poverty stricken rural areas of low density to urban
areas of high density and to areas of fertile agricultural land in the Tarai.
In Nepal, the major streams of internal migration are rural-to-rural (68.2%) and rural-to-urban
(25.5% in 2001 and 31.2% in 1996). Urban-to-urban (2.8%) and urban-to-rural (3.5) are of lesser
importance. Nepal has at present 58 designated urban centres with a total population of 3,227,879.
Out of this total, 95.6 per cent were native born and 4.4 per cent were foreign born in 2001. Out of
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