By Bikal Dhungel
Life expectancy at birth tells many thing. It means better healthcare facilities, better medical infra-structures, availability of health professionals during childbirth, education of the mother and family in general, quality of nutrition of the mother etc. From 2000 to 2013, life expectancy increased from 62 to 68. A more recent data of early 2015 shows that it has now crossed 70 years. In such a short period, increasing life expectancy by 10 years means a phenomenal improvement. Health expenditure per capita also increased four fold, from 11 dollars in 2000 to 40 dollars, which is still less in real terms but the growth rate is convincing. Consequently, infant mortality rate decreased from 60 per 1000 births to 32, which is again a good news. One of the major killer in Nepal is diarrhea, which is mainly caused by drinking contaminated water. Percentage of population using improved water source has increased from 75 in 2000 to almost 90 in 2013 in rural area. The number in urban area however is not that good. I did not include it in the figure but actually the number in urban area has increased. This can be explained by the growth of urban population and slums. Rural to urban migration is on rise, which can be positive in long term but in short term connected with lack of clean water supply and other facilities. However, this development has some exogenous influence mainly remittance flow from abroad.
Source: World Bank Statistics, 2015
The number of Nepalese living abroad and the number of household receiving remittances is on rise. The following figure shows the number of Nepalese in the given countries, which include the highest figures. It could be argued that capital flows to Nepal in terms of Foreign Direct Investment or Development Aid was already there for a long time but it seems that remittance flow can have a huge impact on the poor in contrast to development aid. The third figure shows the trend of remittance and development aid in the last 15 years.
Source: World Bank Migration Matrix, 2013
Source: CBS, 2011