Nepalis in the land of milk and honey

The agriculture sector, the backbone of the Nepali economy for eons, has been receiving less attention than it deserves. The industrial sector has not been flourishing, either. The private sector is mainly involved in risk-free and unproductive ventures such as real estate and auto business sectors whereas the public sector remains mired in corruption, bribery and smuggling scandals. 

Thanks to the lack of stability, the economy has not even taken off with potential economic sectors capable of boosting the economy unexploited. Reeling under unemployment, an increasing number of people have been leaving the country over the years.  

It can be surmised that a majority of the 0.75m people, who left the country in the fiscal 2022-23, did so in search of employment opportunities. Their destinations included countries in the Middle East such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel, and Malaysia, Japan and South Korea in East Asia. 

According to estimates, about 50,000 Nepali people migrate to developed countries annually for permanent residence. In 2023, 1.6m people flew abroad for different purposes, including for permanent settlement in developed countries like the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. In 2022, according to the Immigration Department, 71,000 people flew out of the country for permanent residence. 

The migration of Nepalis to the United States started in the 20th century. In the beginning, the outmigration was nominal. For the first time in  1974, Nepali living in the US were categorized under a separate ethnic group with the recognition of 56 people as Nepali Americans, a marked shift from the practice of putting Nepalis under the Other Asians category.

Despite a surge in the number of migrants, not even 100 Nepalis used to migrate to the global superpower and economic powerhouse annually until 1996, the year Diversified visa (DV) program was launched in Nepal. Since then, an increasing number of Nepali people have been migrating annually for permanent settlement in the US.

According to  the Pew Research Center, the population of Nepali Americans in 2019 was 198,000, which reached 206,000 in 2020, marking a 4 percent increase in the Nepali population in the US. 

Among them, 78,000 are living in different metropolitan cities of America. Dallas is home to 15,000 Nepali Americans, followed by New York (12,000), Washington (10,000), San Francisco (7,000), Baltimore (7,000), Boston (6,000), Atlanta (5,000), Pittsburgh (5,000), Acron (5,000) and Chicago (5,000).

Nepalis with modest means dream of leading prosperous lives in America. While some are indeed growing rich, a majority of Nepali Americans remain under deprivation. The annual median income (which divides the people in two equal parts on the basis of income distribution above and below median income) of Nepali Americans is  $55,000, far less than the annual median income of all Asian Americans ($85,800) and the median income of all Americans ($68,000). 

Seventeen percent of Nepali Americans are living under economic deprivation, holding low-paying jobs. The percentage of Nepali Americans living below the poverty line is more  than the percentage of Asian Americans (10 percent) and of all Americans (11 percent) below the line. What’s more, only 33 percent of Nepali Americans have their own occupancy, while others are living in rented accommodations. Only 22 percent of Nepali Americans are college graduates against 30 percent Asian Americans. A majority of Nepali Americans are living in relative poverty, near poverty and absolute poverty.