International Migrants Day 2023 in Sri Lanka

Created by Prof. N.P. Ravindra Deyshappriya

1. International Migrants Day 2023 Prof. N.P. Ravindra Deyshappriya Professor in Economics Faculty of Management Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka [email protected] Recent Trends in Migration and Its Contribution to Economic Development in Sri Lanka

2. Outline Introduction Migration by Gender Skilled, Semi-skilled and Low-skilled Migration Age Distribution of Migration Main Migration Destinations District-wise Distribution of Migrants Engaging Migrants for Development Importance of Remittances Role of a SLBFE

3. “ Honouring the Contributions of Migrants and Respecting Their Rights”

4. Introduction Over 1.1 million Sri Lankans have left the country in 2022 with a monthly average of about 94,000 while only 27.6% of total departures have left for foreign employment purposes. Annual labour migration in Sri Lanka is approximately 3% of labour force in Sri Lanka. Workers’ remittance is the largest foreign income earning source of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is the key regulatory body in Sri Lanka.

5. Migration by Gender Sri Lanka’s outward labour migration is 311,056 by 2022, in which male migration is significantly higher than that of females’.

6. Skilled, Semi-skilled & Low-skilled Migration The percentage of skilled migration has been the highest, however low-skilled migration has increased after 2021. Among the skilled labour migration, ‘Housekeeping” is the key category.

7. Gender-wise Skilled Migration Majority of skilled labours are males while semi-skilled labours are females.

8. Age Distribution of Migration Majority of migrant workers are in-between 25-45 years old. Female-dominant migration pattern can be seen after age of 45.

9. Main Migration Destination Kuwait (25.4%) followed by Qatar (23.1%) are the main migration destinations for Sri Lankans. Romania has been an emerging destination since recently.

10. Gender-wise Migration Destinations Kuwait, Oman and Jordan are led by female migrant workers

11. District-wise Distribution of Migrants Most of the migrants are from urbanized districts.

12. Engaging Migrants for Development

13. Importance of Remittances as a Foreign Income Earner Workers’ remittance is the largest foreign income earning source of Sri Lanka

14. Remittances & Its Growth Rate Remittances have been continuously increasing till 2020, despite the growth rate of remittances has been fluctuating

15. Remittances & Growth Growth rate of remittances closely correlates with the economic growth rate.

16. Role of a SLBFE Three Phases in Migration Pre-migration Migration Post-migration

17. Thank You!