Dynamics of Internal Migration in Bangladesh

A multiple regression analysis of internal migration in Bangladesh was conducted using data from 1974 and 1981 censuses to test the hypothesis that migration is related to population density and other variables associated with land pressure. The data from 1974 contained information on birthplace and length of time at current residence. The 1981 census lacked these data so the UN census survival ratio method was used to estimate time. The hypotheses were that greater exploitation of tenant farmers would engender greater out-migration and that higher population growth would lead to more migration. Employment activity rate of people aged 10 and over was used as a proxy for land pressure. In 1981 Bangladesh had 21 districts ranging in population from 0.2 million for the Eastern district of Bandarban to >10 million for Dhaka. The country was divided into 4 regions: the central and northern regions gained population and the southern end eastern regions lost population. Population flows were toward rural areas with less land pressure and more employment opportunities the north central and southeast regions. People moved into the urban areas in the Districts of Dhaka Chittagong Khulna and Rajshahi. They also moved to the government redistribution areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts and Bandarban. The regression analysis showed that 81.5% of the net migration was explained by activity rate and 5.9% by urbanization. Unexpectedly districts with high population density tended to gain more population. Other variables such as household size proportion of never-married persons and literacy rate were not significant. It was concluded that exploitative agrarian land management was the primary motivation for migration.