Overseas employment drops by over 21% in Jan after Dec peak
Officials say January trend is normal, as December’s figure was unusually high
The number of Bangladeshi workers going abroad fell sharply in January 2026, declining by over 21% from December, official data show.
According to country clearance statistics from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), 119,389 workers went abroad in December 2025, while the figure dropped to 94,189 in January – a decrease of 25,200 workers, or roughly 21.1%, in a single month.
Officials and sector stakeholders noted that December's figure was unusually high due to year-end clearances and pending applications, while January reflected a more normal trend. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh sent 60,000–70,000 workers monthly on average, a figure that has recently risen to nearly 100,000 per month.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Saudi Arabia remained the top destination in both months, though numbers declined significantly. In December, 83,876 workers went to Saudi Arabia, falling to 64,567 in January. Labour recruiters noted that low-skilled workers continue to dominate Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern routes.
Shamim Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies, told The Business Standard: "The payment structure is still between Tk25,000 and Tk30,000. Most Bangladeshis are employed as cleaners, construction workers, and housemaids. The government has yet to renegotiate salaries with destination countries to ensure better earnings for our workers."
Other major destinations also saw declines. Worker migration to Qatar fell from 7,161 in December to 5,904 in January; Singapore from 5,856 to 5,283; and the Maldives from 4,320 to 2,934. Similar downward trends were observed for Kuwait, Cambodia, Jordan, and Iraq.
The UAE saw a slight increase, receiving 1,441 workers in January, up from 1,002 in December. Portugal entered the top-ten list in January, hiring 732 Bangladeshis. Shamim Chowdhury urged authorities to explore European destinations: "Preparing skilled workers has to be the top agenda if we want to tap the potential of European destinations."
Despite the migration decline, remittances remained strong. Bangladesh received $3.17 billion in January 2026, the third-highest monthly inflow on record, and a 45.41% increase from $2.18 billion in January 2025.
The highest monthly remittance remains $3.29 billion in March 2025, followed by $3.22 billion in December 2025. Bankers and economists attribute the surge largely to a shift from informal money transfer systems, or hundi, to formal banking channels.
