Kathmandu: Nepal received an extraordinary Rs 870.31 billion in remittances in just the first five months of the current fiscal year, underlining how overseas earnings continue to anchor the country’s economy even as fewer Nepalis are leaving for foreign jobs.
According to the central bank’s latest macroeconomic and financial report for fiscal year 2025/26, remittance inflows up to mid-December (Mangsir) were 35.6 percent higher than in the same period a year earlier, a sharp acceleration from the modest 4.7 percent growth recorded in the first five months of the previous fiscal year.
The pace of inflows has also quickened dramatically month by month. In Mangsir alone, Nepal received Rs 183.18 billion in remittances, compared with Rs 118.79 billion in the same month last year, showing how strongly money from abroad has picked up in recent months.
Measured in US dollars, remittance inflows rose by 29 percent to US$ 6.16 billion over the five-month period, the central bank said, compared with growth of just 3.4 percent a year earlier. Net secondary income, which largely consists of transfers such as remittances, climbed to Rs 954.78 billion, up from Rs 704.3 billion in the same period last year, highlighting the growing importance of these inflows in supporting household incomes and the national balance of payments.
What makes this surge particularly striking is that it has come even as fewer Nepalis are going abroad for work. After hitting a high in the previous fiscal year, overseas labour migration has eased slightly. By mid-December of the current fiscal year, 175,591 Nepalis had received final labour approvals for new foreign jobs, both individual and institutional. Another 163,924 workers renewed their labour permits to continue working overseas.
In the same period last year, 190,384 Nepalis had obtained new final labour approvals, while 135,425 had renewed their permits. The data show that while the number of new workers heading overseas has fallen, more migrants are staying on and continuing to remit, and those already abroad are sending back significantly more money than before.
The combination of higher earnings, better formal transfer channels and stronger compliance with banking systems appears to be pushing more remittances into official records, even as the flow of new migrants slows.
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