Labour migration and remittances are major economic mainstays for Nepal’s economy. However, there is still insufficient documentation on scale and significance of this process. Estimations of migration figures suggest that real numbers are several times higher than official statistics show. Therefore this article contributes to the emerging debate of the last years comparing latest national statistics with own empirical data. The paper concludes that the total numbers of migrants calculated by the authors closely corresponds with official statistics, while amount of remittances seems to be higher indeed, highlighting once more that labour migration and remittances are an important mainstay of Nepal’s economy.

International labor migration is an increasingly important livelihood strategy in Nepal. There is little documentation of the movements of migrant workers or of their remittances. It is estimated that Nepalese migrants send remittances equivalent to about one quarter of Nepal's gross national product. Migrants and their families lack information about safe migration procedures, host countries, their rights as migrants, and awareness about HIV/AIDS. The present article examines two projects that address these migrants' needs in their home country and in one destination. The first project is a Nepal-wide radio program based in Kathmandu that provides information on migration issues. The second is a community outreach project based in Delhi, India, focusing on education of migrants.