Emigration as a Growth Strategy

The model of manufacturing export-led growth followed by a number of countries in East Asia and beyond is becoming ever more complex to emulate. But new pathways to rapid growth for developing countries are emerging. Higher-income countries are seeing rapidly declining working-age populations, creating an increased demand for immigrants. Emigration is already a significant source of household income and human capital investment, and remittances are on a similar scale to manufactured export revenues for many countries. But for emigration to be a key element of a growth strategy requires harnessing migration for structural transformation, involving a focus on emigration to countries that can provide the needed skills, investment and trade opportunities to accomplish that.