International migration plays a vital and indispensable role in
the national economy of Bangladesh. Because on the one hand it reduces
unemployment and on the other hand it results in remittance flows to the
country, which serve as an important but inexpensive source of much needed
foreign exchange. In Bangladesh, migration has kept the unemployment rate
virtually unchanged since the 1980s, although the growth rate of the labor
force is almost twice that of the population growth. The continuous outflow of
working age and the accompanying inflow of remittances have played a major role
in keeping the unemployment rate stable. Migration, therefore eased the
pressure of alternative employment creation on successive governments.