THIMPHU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Rural-urban migration represents a major flow of migration in Bhutan, a newly published report on migration and urbanization in Bhutan said.
However, the annual volume of rural-urban migrants and also the urbanization rate is declining, according to the report that was released by the National Statistic Bureau (NSB) of Bhutan.
The report, which was made public Sunday, also stated that it represents a minority of internal recent migrants. More than 70 percent of recent migrant are between rural areas, between urban areas or urban to rural migrants, it stated.
Internal migration is a common feature in Bhutan, as around half of the resident population in the 2017 census reported to have moved within Bhutan, the NSB report stated.
Factors such as employment related reasons such as transfer within the country, migrating as a dependent family member and for education and training purposes were main reasons for internal migration, the report said.
In 2017 the Population Housing Census of Bhutan identified 64 urban centers of which nine were newly created after the 2015 census. Of all the capital Thimphu dominated the population size and also other factors such as government departments and agencies, as well as in non-agricultural economic establishments.
Decreasing population in rural areas is a process that has been going on for decades and basically reflects the desire to escape from a marginal economic existence and adverse living conditions.
To help reduce rural-urban migration, the report recommended strengthening local and regional urban centers for improving marketability of agricultural products and providing opportunities for ago-processing products in the region.
Other recommendations include promoting modern farming methods, improving accessibility to local market for sale of agricultural produce and also expanding eco-tourism in rural areas and providing electric fencing to protect crops from wild attack.
