Internal Migration and Poverty: Evidence from Ghana and India

Abstract

This briefing paper examines the links between internal migration, remittances and poverty based on analysis of national data for India and Ghana. Internal migrants outnumber international migrants by an order of magnitude and the total sum of internal remittances exceeds international remittances. People move from relatively poor areas to richer ones. While it is difficult to establish causality, these moves allow poor people to access better opportunities in richer regions.