Kerala does not have huge manufacturing plants and giant factories like neighbouring states. The state is far behind in the industrial and agricultural sectors. The state's revenue income and financial position are in poor condition. Nonetheless, the great majority of Keralites have been living excellent lives for decades. People from Kerala are the ones who mostly buy cars and other branded goods manufactured in other states. One can find multiple cars even in middle-class households. People here spend large amounts of money on clothes, food, education and treatment.

In other states, we can find large, rich houses only in towns and cities. On the other hand, huge houses are seen one after the other everywhere in Kerala. All this is possible because of the money sent by those leading expatriate lives in the Gulf and other foreign countries. There is reason for optimism after the Kerala Migration Survey's report revealed that the money sent home by Malayalees living abroad has more than doubled in the last few years. There has been a big leap in the money sent home by expatriates after the COVID era. In 2018, expatriate Malayalees had sent Rs 85,092 crores to Kerala. This increased to 2.16 lakh crores in 2023. An average Malayali who used to send home 96,185 rupees a year now sends 2.23 lakh rupees!

Although the number of expatriates is higher in Malappuram, people from Kollam are leading in sending money home. 16.2% of the total money sent goes to Malappuram and 17.8% to Kollam district. The survey was jointly conducted by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation and the International Institute of Migration and Development as directed by the state government. The report was submitted to the government at the inauguration ceremony of Lok Kerala Sabha. 15.8 per cent of the money sent by expatriates is used for house construction in the state. Many families were able to realise their dream of owning a house only because of the hard work of expatriate Malayalees.

When a family spends money on building a house, that money is spent in the state as wages and for purchasing various goods. It becomes an income for many people in the state itself. 14 percent is used for loan repayment and 10 percent for educational expenses. This report will be useful for devising new schemes for expatriate welfare and other matters. Likewise, there is still a tendency at the bureaucratic level to make things difficult for expatriates who try to start industries or build commercial buildings in the state. The government should issue guidelines to avoid this. The number of Malayalee expatriates stood at 14 lakh in 1988. Let's hope that the increase in this number to 22 lakhs in 2023 will further boost the progress of the state