Nepalis Are Now Romania's Largest Foreign Worker Community as the Europe Corridor Surges
Romania took 46% of Nepal's Europe-bound workers in FY 2025/26 — 24,767 approvals. Nepalis are now Romania's largest foreign worker community.
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-10-01T12:02:06.000000Z
Category: Community
The map of Nepali labour migration is being redrawn. In the first eleven months of fiscal year 2025/26, 53,951 Nepali workers received new labour approvals for 24 European countries — giving Europe a 14.7% share of Nepal's total outbound workforce, up sharply from 8.69% the year before, according to Department of Foreign Employment data reported by The Kathmandu Post.
Romania is the centre of gravity
No European country comes close to Romania's pull. 24,767 Nepali workers — including 3,144 women — took labour approval for Romania in that eleven-month window, roughly 46% of everyone headed to Europe. Fiscal-year figures compiled by Nepal All put Romania's full-year approvals at 22,266, up from 20,874 in FY 2024/25 and 15,021 the year before that — three straight years of steep growth.
Sagar Phuyal, Nepal's acting ambassador to Germany who also oversees Romania, put it plainly: Nepalis now constitute the largest community of foreign workers in Romania. The country's Economic and Social Council has set an annual quota of 100,000 non-EU workers to fill acute labour shortages, and in Ilfov county surrounding Bucharest — where over 51,000 foreign nationals are registered — Nepalis form the largest single group. Demand runs through manufacturing, construction, hospitality, courier and warehouse work.
Why Romania, and why now
Two structural factors explain the surge. First, Romania joined the Schengen Area, making a Romanian residence permit a gateway to document-free travel across most of Europe. Second, Nepal and Romania signed a bilateral labour agreement in October 2023, and officials say preparations for its full implementation are underway — one of only a handful of formal labour works Nepal has in Europe, alongside the UK's nurse recruitment agreement and Germany's skilled-worker deal.
The context matters too: Gulf states still absorb 55.4% of outbound workers and Malaysia 15.9%, but recurring instability in West Asia has pushed jobseekers toward European wages, labour protections and working conditions.
The caution flag
The boom has a dark underside. Of the 85,851 Nepalis who took labour approval for the ten main European destinations in FY 2025/26, only 7,231 went through institutional recruitment — the overwhelming majority travelled on individually arranged visas, a channel labour experts warn is riddled with fraud and inflated fees. Would-be migrants are urged to verify agents and offers directly with the Department of Foreign Employment.
For the diaspora
For families split across the corridor, our Euro to Nepali Rupee converter s the rate workers send home, and Nepal time vs Bucharest helps coordinate calls across the nearly four-hour gap. The community's story mirrors what we've documented in Cyprus and Croatia — Europe is no longer a secondary option; it's becoming the destination.
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