Drivers, Trajectories and Policy Implications of Rural-Urban Migration in Bhutan

Globally, there has been an increase in urbanisation, which is primarily caused by rising trend trend of rural-urban migration. One such country is Bhutan, where 38% of its population migrated from rural to urban areas between the period 2005 to 2017. Based on data from Bhutan’s second population and housing census conducted in 2017, this study determines that a majority of the migrants are educated and belong to the productive age group (19-30 years). A macro/district level analysis of socio-economic variables such as income, economic activity, education, health, agriculture and infrastructure reveals that, except for the difference in the length of roads (that is, an increase in the road length was associated with reduced migration), none of the other socio-economic variables were statistically significant. The findings of this study provide insight into the characteristics and the underlying drivers of internal migration in Bhutan.