Female migration declining at alarming rate: Ramru

Female migration from Bangladesh to different countries is declining at an alarming rate, according to the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit, Ramru.

The findings were shared at a press conference held on Wednesday, January 7, at the Tofazzel Hossain Manik Mia Hall of the National Press Club in Dhaka. Ramru founder chairperson Dr Tasneem Siddiqui presented an overview of migration trends.

She said the number of female migrants has been falling steadily since 2023. Compared with 2022, female migration declined by about 40.9 percent in 2025. However, the total number of migrant workers increased by nearly 12 percent over one year.

In 2025, a total of 1,130,757 people went abroad for employment, compared with 1,011,969 in 2024.

Tasneem Siddiqui said a worrying downward trend in female migration has been observed. Until 2016, women made up 16 percent of total labour migration from Bangladesh. Between 2016 and 2019, more than 100,000 women migrated abroad each year. Although the number declined for two years during the Covid period, it rose again to 105,466 in 2022.

She said that in 2025, only 62,317 women went abroad for work, accounting for about 5.5 percent of total migrants. In 2024, the figure was 61,158, meaning female participation increased by just 1.9 percent in a year.

Citing Ramru research, she said uncertainty over decent working conditions abroad and violence against women at workplaces and within households are discouraging female migration.

She added that women once made up 90 percent of the garment sector workforce, but their participation has fallen to about 55 percent. While the Fourth Industrial Revolution is often blamed, she said research is needed to determine whether conservative patriarchal attitudes are once again restricting women’s opportunities to work outside the home.

The written statement noted that while statistics exist on how many Bangladeshis have gone abroad since 1976, data on how many migrants return home each year after completing contracts is still unavailable. Despite talks of coordination between the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment and the Ministry of Home Affairs, no tangible results have been achieved, leaving no accurate count of how many Bangladeshi workers are currently abroad.