The number of people leaving Nepal for employment surged by 44.9 percent during the first nine months of the current fiscal year (July 16, 2005-July 15, 2006), the Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLEP) said here Thursday.

"A total of 136,131 people left the country for several destinations in the Gulf and countries such as Malaysia compared to 93,942 for the similar period last year," the latest statistics released by DoLEP said.

The statistics shows that most of the job aspirants had left for Malaysia during the period, followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A total of 65,216 workers had accepted employment in Malaysia in the first nine months of the current Nepali fiscal year, compared to 45,569 for the similar period last year, the statistics noted, adding, "This shows that around 48 percent of the total workforce, that left the country during the review period, had been recruited in Malaysia."

The number of the people leaving for Qatar also rose by a remarkable 60.6 percent in the current Nepali fiscal year. "A total of 44,367 workers left for Qatar this Nepali fiscal year, compared to 27,624 for the similar period of last fiscal year," the statistics said.

The number of workers leaving for other labour destinations in the Gulf region, namely, Saudi Arabia and UAE also grew by 33 percent and 45 percent respectively in the first nine months of the current Nepali fiscal year.