The Latest Kerala Migration Survey has revealed that the number of expatriates from the state to the Gulf has declined thanks to an increase in wages in India. The decline is evident more in the countries like Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE. According to the study, one of the major factors responsible for the fall in numbers has been the rising wages in India. It says in case of Kerala, the average wages for the unskilled workers have gone up at least three times in comparison to their earnings in the Gulf and the rising cost of emigration. However, despite the decline in the numbers, the glamour associated with emigrating to the region remained very strong among the youth.The report says that UAE has the largest number of Keralites living in the Gulf countries. Around 9 lakh Keralites are in UAE followed by around 6 lakhs in Saudi Arabia and around 2 lakhs in Oman. There are around 1.5 lakh expatriate from Kerala in Qatar while Kuwait has around 1.3 lakh people from Kerala. It also found that the foreign remittances by the Keralites was on the rise and they have sent around Rs. 500 billion to India. The report also reveals that the number of Kerala emigrants who returned and are living in Kerala in 2011 is estimated to be 1.15 million. The study was based on data collected from 15,000 randomly selected households. Content