Overseas migration from Kerala declines, student migration doubles, find study

A study conducted by the Kerala government has found a declining trend in overseas migrations from the state, whereas student migration has doubled.

While the number of migrants from Kerala remained at 2.2 million with slight increase of 32,388 from the total numbers found in 2018 study, the number of student migrants increased from 1,29,763 in 2018 to around 2,50,000 in 2023. Students constitute 11.3 percent of total migrants from Kerala, according to the Kerala Migration Study (KMS) of 2023 released on Friday.

KMS highlights the need to develop new policies that will encourage international students from Kerala to return home after acquiring valuable skills so as to plug brain drain and foster brain gain. The declining trends in overseas migrations for jobs could be also an indication of a saturation of international migrations.

Meanwhile, there is significant increase in total remittances. The remittances reached Rs 216,893 crores in 2023 from Rs 85,092 crores in 2018, an increased of 154.9 percent.

KMS is being conducted at regular intervals since 1998 and the data is widely used by the government for planning purposes. KMS 2023 was conducted by the Gulati Institute of Finance Taxation (GIFT) with technical support from the International Institute of Migration and Development (IIMAD). IIMAD chair S Irudaya Rajan led the study.

Earlier editions of KMS found increasing trend of Keralites moving abroad. It went up from 1.4 million in 1998 to 1.8 million in 2003 and 2.2 million in 2008, reaching its peak in 2013 with 2.4 million emigrants. However, in 2018, Kerala observed a steady decline in labour migration with the number of migrants estimated at 2.1 million.

The study was conducted using a sample size of 20,000 households across 14 district. During sample collection many homes were found to be locked as entire families had migrated, says the study..

Other key findings of KMS 2023

• North Kerala districts, especially Malappuram, has high number of migrants

• Muslims constitute 41.9 percent of migrants, Hindus 35.2 and Christians 22.3 percent

• Shift from Saudi Arabia to UAE as most preferred destination

• Female migrants increased from 15.8 percent in 2018 to 19.1 per cent in 2023

• Female migration witnesses shift from GCC countries to Europe and other western countries

• 71.5 percent of female migrants completed degree-level education as opposed to only 34.7 percent of male emigrants

• Increase in returnees from 1.2 million in 2018 to 1.8 million in 2023.

• Significant surge in remittances after Covid-19.