𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞

…𝑨𝑫𝑩 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉-𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔

By Sonam Choden

As Bhutan graduates from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, its young population faces a pivotal choice: seek opportunities abroad or build a future at home. A recent Asian Development Bank study, Youth, Labor Market Dynamics, and the Role of Entrepreneurship in Bhutan, reveals a growing tension between the high aspirations of Bhutanese youth to migrate and the limited opportunities for entrepreneurship within the country. The report also highlights structural barriers that continue to restrict local growth and self-reliance.

The ADB report shows that 93.7 percent of Bhutanese youth are willing to move abroad for work, with destinations such as Australia, the United States, Canada, and the Middle East being particularly popular. While 65 percent would consider relocating within Bhutan, mostly to Thimphu, the lure of overseas work reflects dissatisfaction with domestic labor market prospects.

Kinley, a 23-year-old graduate waiting for her Australian visa, said, “Almost everyone in my class talks about leaving. We studied so hard, but the jobs we want simply aren’t here.” Migration offers immediate rewards, including higher wages, exposure to global opportunities, and remittances that support households. Yet long-term consequences of persistent outmigration could depress the country’s GDP, raise dependency ratios, and perpetuate cycles of low domestic productivity, creating structural challenges for Bhutan’s economic future.

Entrepreneurship is often proposed as an alternative, providing youth with a path to self-employment and potential job creation. However, the ADB study finds that structural barriers continue to limit its effectiveness. Most youth-led ventures remain necessity-driven, born from unemployment rather than proactive opportunity-seeking. These enterprises are typically informal, small, and short-lived, offering limited prospects for growth.

Many young people run small shops, roadside stalls, or delivery services, not out of passion but simply to survive. Their ventures reflect necessity rather than true entrepreneurial ambition, highlighting the fragile nature of Bhutan’s start-up ecosystem.

Dorji, a 25-year-old in Paro, said, “It is not my passion, but it is survival.” Despite a sevenfold increase in aspiring youth entrepreneurs between 2018 and 2022, only a small fraction of businesses survive beyond their early stages. The gap between aspiration and success points to an ecosystem lacking adequate access to finance, mentorship, and institutional support, all critical for young Bhutanese aiming to build lasting ventures.

Women entrepreneurs face additional hurdles, despite showing strong productivity and earnings potential. Young women aged 25 to 34 sometimes outperform male peers and senior employees in opportunity-driven enterprises. Yet structural barriers, including limited access to credit, insufficient childcare support, and entrenched gender norms, restrict their ability to expand. These obstacles highlight how constraints prevent youth, especially women, from fully leveraging their skills and ambition.

The contrast between migration and entrepreneurship presents a policy dilemma. Outward migration may ease immediate employment pressures but risks draining the country of its most dynamic and talented workers. Entrepreneurship, if nurtured, could drive structural transformation and inclusive growth. The ADB estimates that a shift toward opportunity-driven youth entrepreneurship could contribute 1.4 percent of Bhutan’s GDP, showing that fostering sustainable business creation is not only an alternative to unemployment but also a potential engine for national development.

Experts argue that Bhutan needs a two-pronged approach. First, policies must strengthen youth entrepreneurship by expanding access to finance, improving mentorship programs, integrating entrepreneurship education into schools, and offering social protections to reduce income volatility. Second, structural reforms should tackle the root causes of migration, including the shortage of formal wage jobs, weak school-to-work transitions, and underdeveloped private sector opportunities.

Dechen summed up the views of many young Bhutanese: “I want to stay, but only if Bhutan makes it possible for us to build something lasting here.”

As migration aspirations grow and entrepreneurial realities remain constrained, Bhutan faces a decisive choice. With strategic investment and policy support, the country can turn migration from a necessity into a choice and position youth-led enterprises as a cornerstone of post-LDC growth. Ensuring that young Bhutanese can pursue meaningful work at home will require structural reforms and sustained efforts to develop a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem capable of turning aspiration into long-term success.