1,346 Nepali migrant workers died last year

More than 1,300 Nepali workers, who went abroad for employment through legal means, lost their lives in the last fiscal (2023-24), per government data. According to the Foreign Employment Board, 1,346 of the workers registered with the board died in 2023-24.

The highest number of deaths occurred due to various diseases and illnesses, with 321 workers falling victim to sickness.

During the reporting period, 199 workers died from heart attacks, 192 committed suicide, 157 died of natural causes and 157 lost their lives in road accidents. Additionally, 92 workers lost their lives due to other causes, and 46 died in workplace accidents.

Over the past year, 741,000 Nepalis—661,000 men and 80,000 women—went abroad for work, marking a surge in outmigration from a country that sees about 700,000 people seek foreign employment each year.

Government data indicate that around 1,000 Nepali workers die abroad each year, with four deaths occurring daily. 

A yearly surge in the number of Nepali migrant workers has led to an increase in fatalities of Nepalis abroad.

Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, 3,887 Nepali workers lost their lives, while in 2021-22, there were 1,479 deaths, followed by 1,030 deaths in 2022-23, and 1,346 in 2023-24.

Foreign employment experts attribute a high death rate among Nepali workers to a large number of unskilled laborers going abroad. In 2023-24, 145,000 unskilled workers and 532,000 workers with general skills left Nepal for foreign employment whereas only 60,000 semi-skilled and 732 highly-skilled workers went abroad.

Despite these fatalities, only the families of workers who went abroad with a valid work permit are eligible for compensation. If a worker dies within the period of work permit, the board provides compensation of Rs 700,000 to the bereaved family.

The board informed that it distributed Rs 699.9m as compensation to the families of workers who lost their lives abroad in the last fiscal.