KATHMANDU: The Department of Passport (DoP) has issued as many as 6.4 million Machine Readable Passports (MRPs) in the last 10 years. Out of them, around 19.71 percent of the passport holders are women.
According to the statistics of the Department of Passport under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as many as 6.372 million passports were issued from the fiscal year 2010/11 to date. This statistic shows that an average of 637,215 passports are issued in Nepal every year.
The Department, some 3.23 million passports were issued from various district administration offices, 2.46 million from the department and 72,942 from Nepali missions abroad in the last 10 years.
In the last fiscal year 2019/20, as many as 3,98,842 passports were issued. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, fewer passports have been issued this year compared to previous years.
The government had stopped issuing passports to others except the most urgent ones after the government started lockdown on March 24 this year.
Last year, 1,41,305 passports were issued by the Department — 2,44,587 by various district administration offices and 12,950 by Nepali missions abroad.
In the last 10 years, around 51,15,893 males, 1,256,227 females and 33 LGBTs obtained the passports.
Nepal has started distributing machine-readable passports (MRP) by closing handwritten passports on December 26, 2010.
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