Brain drain from South Asia: what to do?

Brain drain refers to the emigration of skilled persons from developing countries to developed countries. A large numbers of highly educated South Asians, especially from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, have migrated to developed countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), Canada and Australia. The migration of skilled professionals often called "brain drain" is not new; however, its scale and persistence raise troubling questions about whether the countries in South Asia are investing enough to keep their most valuable asset, human resources, in their own countries.

Over the past four decades, Afghanistan has been experiencing considerable brain drain, with over six million Afghans, mostly skilled individuals such as doctors and engineers, who migrated to other countries, largely because of the resurgence of Taliban, ongoing political instability, deteriorating law and order situation, and deepening economic crisis.

There is an outflow of highly skilled professionals from Bangladesh to other countries for better career prospects and improved quality of life. Several million skilled Bangladeshis have migrated to the US, the UK (home to the largest Bangladeshi community in Europe, with a sizeable proportion of them working as doctors, teachers, and engineers), Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Italy and Singapore. In addition, there are over a million Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia, with skilled persons accounting for around one-quarter of them. Furthermore, there are several million Bangladeshis working in the Arab states and the Persian Gulf, some of who are doctors, engineers and teachers.

Since 2021, a considerable number of young and mid-career Bhutanese migrated to developed countries.

There has been a sizeable emigration of skilled professionals from India for better opportunities in the UK, the US, Australia and Canada. According to a 2024 report, there were over 35 million non-resident Indians (NRIs). India has the highest number of annual emigrants, with around 2.5 million migrating annually.

The majority of Maldivians emigrate to India and Sri Lanka.

Nepal has witnessed sizeable emigration of skilled professionals. According to data from Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment, there has generally been high demand for foreign employment, rising from 0.51 million in 2014-15 to 0.78 million in 2022-23 in countries like India, Australia, Japan, Canada and the US.

Since 1990, around 11 million Pakistanis moved abroad--about five million in the Middle East, followed by the UK, the US, Australia, Italy, Canada, Germany, Norway and Spain. More recently, Pakistan has been witnessing an increasing trend of emigration of highly educated and skilled individuals, up by around 27 per cent during 2022-23. Pakistan ranks third in South Asia in terms of emigration of highly educated and skilled individuals; and it has the sixth largest diaspora in the world.

There has also been a considerable brain drain from Sri Lanka, with around three million Sri Lankan diaspora in developed countries in Asia, Australia, Canada and the US. In 2024, over 300,000 people left the country for overseas employment.

Both push and pull factors are the major driving factors. Push factors include lack of adequate employment opportunities, poor working conditions, low wages, economic downturn, and lack of social and political stability. Pull factors include increased and better job opportunities, higher wages, and better quality of life in developed countries.

There are severe consequences of brain drain. Economies lose potential growth and productivity when skilled professionals migrate to developed countries. The emigration of highly qualified persons such as teachers, doctors, engineers, nurses, and technicians has negative impact on national development. The essential services such as education, healthcare and technology suffer, thereby further hindering developmental efforts in their home countries.

However, there is also evidence that high-skilled migration opportunities can lead to "brain gain" in their home countries. When they return to their home countries, they return with valuable experience and networks that, in turn, facilitate knowledge transfer, investment, and other forms of cooperation between their home and host countries. In addition, they can have positive effects on the overall well-being in their home countries, through sending remittances and establishing new trade linkages. For example, India is one of the first countries to experience reversal in brain drain with its skilled diaspora returning to India, often working in senior positions in multinational corporations, creating technological hub, and exporting its high-tech services, thereby contributing to national development. Nevertheless, being the country with the largest diaspora community in the world and considerable unemployment and under-employment, India cannot hope to have the bulk of its diaspora community repatriated.

Other Asian countries such as China, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia have also been witnessing significant brain gain, with such countries successfully creating better opportunities (in terms of income earning opportunities, advanced educational and research facilities and opportunities, improved health facilities, and social and political stability) for their skilled diaspora to return to their home countries.

Tackling brain drain in South Asia requires a multi-pronged strategy. However, given the extreme heterogeneity of the region in terms of socio-economic development and population size, "one size fits all" approach will not be the remedy; and therefore, there is need to adopt tailor-made solutions.

Nevertheless, some priorities cut across borders. The South Asian countries, especially India (to a larger extent than at present), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, need to adopt and vigorously pursue policies and programmes to discourage brain drain by undertaking such measures as providing high-quality education, increasing income earning opportunities, providing improved healthcare facilities, and improving law and order situation. Additionally, they should try to emulate policies similar to the ones adopted by India, China, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, and Malaysia. They need to accelerate the pace of their socio-economic development that will create adequate number of decent jobs, thereby maximising use of its workforce, provided the countries spend the required amounts on health and education to create healthy and educated workforce.

In addition, they should invest in start ups, tech hubs, and industrial zones; and offer competitive salaries and career growth. Such measures, if vigorously pursued, will not only help in discouraging skilled personnel to migrate to developed countries but could also help in attracting the diaspora community to return to their home countries and contribute to national development.

Furthermore, the South Asian countries should create enabling environment for their diaspora community by offering them investment opportunities in their home countries; providing adequate incentives to enable them to create platforms for knowledge transfer and remote collaboration; providing them tax benefits, to the extent justified; and encouraging them to invest in high-interest earning bonds, etc.

Dr Barkat-e-Khuda is a former Professor and Chairman at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at barkatek@yahoo.com