Can countries grow richer by exporting people, not goods?

Apr 30th 2026|5 min read

MOST OF THE oil in Kerala is pressed from coconuts. Yet the southern Indian state, famed for idyllic backwaters, fragrant cuisine and an easy-going lifestyle, owes much of its prosperity to barrels of the foul-smelling crude that comes bubbling out of the ground in the Persian Gulf and, normally, is shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. Ever since the Middle East oil boom began half a century ago Keralites have been heading there to work, first as cleaners and construction workers, then as clerks, nurses and salespeople. An estimated 1.7m of them live in the Gulf, equal to 5% of the state’s population and close to 11% of its workforce.