Is nepal poor or rich how nepal economy works
Nepal, situated in the lap of the Himalayas, was once a Rajwara. Then the monarchy ended there and democracy came. People hoped that the country would progress now, but the reality turned out to be quite different from it. Corruption, unemployment and political instability in the country broke the expectations of the people. Recently, when the government talked about banning social media, thousands of youths took to the streets. It clearly shows that the public is angry with the government and wants change.
Now talk about Nepal’s economic condition, then Nepal neither comes in the poorest countries nor in the rich countries. According to the World Bank report (2025), Nepal’s per capita GDP is about $ 1,400. This means that Nepal is in better position than countries whose per capita income is less than $ 1,000 – such as South Sudan or Burundi. But at the same time, the per capita GDP of rich countries like Luxembourg and Singapore is more than $ 50,000, then Nepal is far behind them. Therefore, Nepal is considered a “lower-medium income country”.
Slight improvement in Nepal’s economy
While the income is low, Nepal’s economic growth i.e. GDP is showing some improvement in recent years. According to the World Bank, Nepal’s GDP is estimated to be $ 43.42 billion in 2025. Whereas Nepal in the year 2024 GDP 42.91 It was a billion dollars. Talking about the year 2023, at that time of Nepal GDP 41.05 It was a billion dollars. Although there was a slight decline in 2023 in 2023, but now there is an economic growth again.
Half the economy immersed in debt
Nepal’s biggest challenge is its debt. In July 2023, public debt was Rs 24 lakh crore, which increased to 26 lakh crores by February 2024. Now this debt is 45.77 percent of GDP. A decade ago this figure was only 22 percent. The foreign share of the total debt is 50.87 percent and the domestic share is 49.13 percent. That is, Nepal is more on the borrowing than its earnings
Economy is running with migrant laborers
Nepal’s economic backbone is a migrant laborer. Millions of Nepali work in Gulf countries, Malaysia, India, America, Britain, Japan, South Korea and Australia and send money. This amount is called Remittens and Nepal’s economy rests on this.
The World Bank report states that in 2022, about 21.8 percent of Nepal’s GDP came from Remittens. In many reports, this share is said to be 25 to 30 percent. According to Nepal Rashtriya Bank, in the financial year 2024-25, the 1.723 trillion Nepalese rupees came, which is 19.2 percent more than the previous year. If you look at the dollar, it sits $ 12.64 billion.
The highest remedies come from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Here millions of Nepali work in construction, oil and service sector. Apart from this, the amount from India, America, Britain and other countries also reaches Nepal.
Sahara could not give farming and tourism
The large part of Nepal’s economy is also dependent on farming and tourism. But farming is backward due to old methods and difficult geographical conditions. Tourism was once the biggest earning of Nepal, but the Kovid-19 epidemic broke it. Now gradually improving, but political instability is also hindering here.
Corruption spoiled the situation
Corruption is the biggest problem in Nepal. In the reports of Transparency International, it has repeatedly revealed that the negligence of leaders and officers has stopped the pace of development. Many times foreign aid has also fallen for corruption. Schemes like road, school and hospital remain in papers. This is the reason why investors do not trust in Nepal and employment opportunities are decreasing.
Political instability is also pulling back the economy of Nepal. Governments change repeatedly, alliances break and policies hang in the balance. When democracy came after the monarchy ended, expectations increased, but the Maoist war and power struggle stopped the pace of development.