Outward migration of Sri Lankan workers is expected to decline but inward mobility is expected rise as development of the domestic economy picks up, Prof. Indralal De Silva, Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo said.

"Migration is a response to inequitable opportunities and migration is not always beneficial," he told a conference in Colombo when the UNDP launched its Human Development Report 2009 yesterday.

Prof. De Silva said internal migration was on the rise.

In 1981, 13 percent of Sri Lanka’s population migrated internally. In 2001, mobility had increased to 20 percent.

About 45 percent of Sri Lanka’s cadre of migrant workers are women, and in the case of inward mobility, women have overtaken the men.

In 1981, 14.3 percent of the total male population had migrated internally while 12.6 percent of the female population had moved.

In 2001, however, 19.1 percent of the total female population had migrated internally compared to 18.1 percent of the male population.

"The internal movement of labour is largely development related. In 1981 a large movement of people was recorded to Colombo and Gampaha based on obvious development related reasons. People also moved into the North Central Province because of the Mahaweli Scheme," Prof. De Silva said.

"By 2001, Colombo recorded the highest volume of inflows with people moving in from the South, central highlands and the North. Gampaha recorded the second highest volumes with inflow mostly from the South," he said.

"With economic prosperity, we expect internal migration to increase while outward migration is expected to slow down," he said.

Sri Lanka depends heavily on private remittances of migrant workers for balance of payments stability but some economists argue that growing worker remittances portray the inability of the domestic economy to provide gainful employment.

While, migrant labour provides balance of payments support, on the long term, developing a strong export led economy is the way forward.

According to the Central Bank, Sri Lanka maintained balance of payment surpluses from 2005 onwards but recorded a US$ 1.2 billion deficit in 2008 because of the effects of the global financial crisis.

However, the trade deficit has been expending since 2005 to 2008.

Private remittances which stood at US$ 1.9 billion in 2005 increased to US$ 2.9 billion in 2008.