Sudurpashchim province is the western part of the country and, shares boarder with Karnali province (East and north), Lumbini Provinces (East), India- Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (West and South) and China, Tibet (North and north-west). The province covers an area of 19,999.28 sq. k. m. (13.55 % of total area of Nepal). It has 16 federal parliamentary and 32 provincial parliamentary constituencies, 1 sub-metropolitan city, 33 municipalities and 54 rural municipalities.

The National Census recorded the total population of the province as 26,94,783 (Female-14,21,997 - 52.77% and male-12,72,786 – 47.23%). Out of total population, 62.4 percent population live in urban areas (municipalities) and 37.6 percent population live in rural areas. The annual population growth rate is 0.52 percent with sex ratio of 52.77 and population density at 138. It has 59.5 per cent of population 15-49 years of age and 12.75 per cent (3,43,523) population are recorded as absentee population. The life expectancy of Sudurpashchim province is 66.93 years of age (National – 68.38). The literacy rate is 76.2 per cent (Female: 68.2 per cent and 85.4 per cent) with 31 percent of population have only attained basic education level.

The Human Development Index (HDI) for the province is 0.547 (0.587 is national HDI) and multidimensional poverty index (MPI) is 25.3% (17.4 % is national level). The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution from the Sudurpashchim Province shared 6.8 per cent to the national GDP of 2020/21 (Rs. 48.51 billion) and, the highest contribution was from Bagmati province as 36.9 percent. The per capita income of the province is 1031.00 USD (National – 1372.00 USD) with the highest at Bagmati province as 2430.00 USD (MoF, 2023).

Accounting for around eight percent of Nepal’s GDP, major sectors of the province include agriculture, forestry, and fishing, that account for over a third of its provincial GDP. With a rudimentary private sector, public administration and defense is the second largest contributor to provincial GDP (14 percent). Nevertheless, education accounts for 14 percent of the provincial GDP, followed by wholesale and retail (nine percent), and construction (eight percent). Growth driving sectors such as manufacturing and services have a small presence in the province with manufacturing contributing to four percent of provincial GDP, with services such as transportation, financial services, ICT among others accounting for less than 10 percent.

 

Figure (4): GDP Composition: Sudurpashchim Province FY 2019/20

Source: CBS (2020/21)

Surdurpashchim province hosts a total of 62 foreign-invested enterprises. Nevertheless, spatial disparities are common across districts. In Surduspashchim Province, out of 122 industries – that are completely domestic and with FDI – 40 percent of all industries are in Kailali, while 26 percent are situated in Kanchanpur. In contrast, Bajhang and Doti have only one industry, Dadeldhura and Darchula have three and Bajura has no industry registered. In terms of foreign investment in Sudurpashchim province, 51 percent of all industries in the province have some form of FDI. Within the province, all four industries in Accham and eight in Baitadi have FDI, while 71 percent of industries in Kanchanpur and three out of five industries in Dadehldhura have foreign investment. The number of total registered industries and those with foreign investment is listed in Table 1 below. 

Table (1): Total industries and industries with FDI up to FY 2020/21

District	Total Industries	Industries with FDI	Industries with FDI (%)
Achham	4	4	100.0%
Bajura	3		0.0%
Baitadi	8	8	100.0%
Bajhang	6	1	16.7%
Dadeldhura	5	3	60.0%
Darchula	9	3	33.3%
Doti	6	1	16.7%
Kailali	49	19	38.9%
Kanchanpur	32	23	71.9%
Sudurpaschim Province	122	62	50.8%

Source: Industrial Statistics 2020/21, Department of Industries

With regard to the quality of the labor force, according to the Nepal Labor Force Survey 2017/18, two percent of the working age population in Sudur Pashchim Province have tertiary education, while seven percent have completed secondary school. On the other hand, 20 percent have less than secondary education and 20 percent have less than basic education. In terms of the quality of the female labor force, merely one percent of the female working-age population have tertiary education as compared to four percent for males. Likewise, while five percent of working-age women in Surdurpashchim have completed secondary education, the proportion of men for the same level of education stands at 10 percent. Nevertheless, almost half of the working-age population (15-64 years) are aged between 15-34 years, offering an active and energetic labor force.