Kerala tops chart of highest passport penetration among women in the country

The number of female passport holders in Kerala stands at 42.17 lakh. Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of male passport holders with 70.58 lakh.

In line with the visible shift in the migration pattern from Kerala of late, women from the southern State hold the highest number of passports issued in the country till 2023, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Gujarat.

Though Kerala has the highest number of total passport holders in the country with 98.92 lakh (including male and female), Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of male passport holders with 70.58 lakh. The number of female passport holders in Kerala stands at 42.17 lakh.

The highest number of female passport holders underscores the recent shift in the migration pattern from the State, characterised by a notable increase in Kerala’s youth, especially female students, heading to various countries for higher education.

According to a survey on “Youth Student Migration from Kerala” conducted in 2023 as part of the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) Youth Leadership Fellowship, it has been found that more women from Kerala are pursuing overseas education. Though the 2018 Kerala Migration Survey put women’s participation in migration at 15.8%, the latest study found that females represented 32% of the survey respondents, aligning with the data showing nearly half of over 7,200 students who recently secured Canadian visas from one facilitator being female.

Speaking to The Hindu, K. Harikrishnan Namboothiri, former CEO of NoRKA Roots, a field agency of the Department of Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKA), said the uptick in female students enrolling in foreign universities is one of the reasons. In fact, Kerala has been the segment leader in sending women healthcare professionals across the globe, especially in the last decade. Further, high migration literacy coupled with the relatively high expatriate population of the State contributed to the passport penetration among the women in Kerala.

In addition, the family reunion of overseas skilled workers from Kerala is now quite high compared to other parts of the country. Also, Kerala is one of the leading States in the country, which sends a record number of family holidayers to different parts of the world as part of international tour packages. All these factors contributed to the high number of passport penetration among rural and urban women in the State, said Mr. Namboothiri.