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India tops world remittance payments, Uganda at $1.3 billion

Remittance payments hit record in 2017: World Bank

Washington, United States | AFP |  Payments from immigrants back to their home countries rebounded to reach a new record in 2017 but the costs of transferring funds also increased, the World Bank said Monday.

Uganda’s remittance inflows improved from $1.1 billion  to $1.3 billion, with Kenya top in the region at $2billion, and Tanzania at $400m and Rwanda $181million.

Remittance inflows improved in all regions and the top remittance recipients were India with $69 billion, followed by China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion), Nigeria ($22 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).

The stronger-than-expected recovery in remittances — payments that are key to supporting the economies of many poor countries — was driven by growth in Europe, Russia and the United States, the World Bank said in a report.

The bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to low- and middle-income countries reached $466 billion in 2017, an increase of 8.5 percent over $429 billion in 2016. They are expected to increase by about four percent this year.

The global average cost of sending $200 was 7.1 percent in the first quarter of 2018, and sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive place to send money to, where the average cost is 9.4 percent.

“While remittances are growing, countries, institutions, and development agencies must continue to chip away at high costs of remitting so that families receive more of the money,” said Dilip Ratha, lead author of the report.

The bank calls on countries to take steps to simplify the process to reduce the costs, including “introducing more efficient technology.”

By region, Europe and Central Asia saw the biggest growth last year, jumping 21 percent, while Sub-Saharan Africa rose 11 percent.

East Asia and the Pacific saw the biggest inflows of $130 billion, as South Asia received $117 billion, followed by Latin America with $80 billion.

Migrant remittance inflows (US$ million) 2014 2015 2016 2017p
Afghanistan            268          301            387            410
Albania         1,421        1,291         1,306         1,382
Algeria         2,000        2,000         2,000         2,093
American Samoa  ..  ..  ..  ..
Andorra  ..  ..  ..  ..
Angola             31            11                4               4
Antigua and Barbuda             29            29              29             31
Argentina            505          494            539            688
Armenia         2,079        1,491         1,382         1,539
Aruba               7              8                7               8
Australia         2,258        2,141         2,051         1,941
Austria         3,239        2,843         2,909         2,934
Azerbaijan         1,846        1,270            643         1,050
Bahamas, The  ..  ..  ..  ..
Bahrain  ..  ..  ..  ..
Bangladesh       14,988      15,296       13,544       13,469
Barbados            108          108            108            112
Belarus         1,231          932            961         1,200
Belgium       11,427        9,873       10,126       10,273
Belize             80            85              97             89
Benin            304          214            222            266
Bermuda         1,336        1,445         1,430         1,478
Bhutan             14            20              34             40
Bolivia         1,177        1,191         1,217         1,341
Bosnia and Herzegovina         2,107        1,801         1,846         2,010
Botswana             46            30              25             20
Brazil         2,648        2,897         2,740         2,699
Brunei Darussalam  ..  ..  ..              –
Bulgaria         1,685        1,495         1,666         2,224
Burkina Faso            396          385            397            444
Burundi             56            51              31             34
Cabo Verde            197          201            212            222
Cambodia            377          400            371            386
Cameroon            283          242            269            278
Canada         1,350        1,274         1,290         1,340
Cayman Islands  ..  ..  ..  ..
Central African Republic  ..  ..  ..  ..
Chad  ..  ..  ..  ..
Channel Islands  ..  ..  ..  ..
Chile            106          104            104            104
China       62,332      63,938       61,000       63,860
Colombia         4,166        4,680         4,903         5,636
Comoros            126          129            131            138
Congo, Dem. Rep.             22          142              16             17
Congo, Rep.  ..  ..  ..  ..
Costa Rica            594          552            545            562
Cote d’Ivoire            387          336            336            379
Croatia         2,149        2,104         2,190         2,307
Cuba  ..  ..  ..  ..
Curacao            143          142            148            160
Cyprus            267          254            327            335
Czech Republic         2,628        2,675         3,126         3,658
Denmark         1,483        1,258         1,252         1,344
Djibouti             36            63              58             62
Dominica             50            56              57             59
Dominican Republic         4,810        5,196         5,509         6,191
Ecuador         2,472        2,388         2,612         2,848
Egypt, Arab Rep.       19,570      18,325       16,590       19,983
El Salvador         4,154        4,288         4,594         5,051
Equatorial Guinea  ..  ..  ..  ..
Eritrea  ..  ..  ..  ..
Estonia            544          456            479            559
Ethiopia         1,796        1,087            772            816
Faeroe Islands            158          158            158            168
Fiji            221          251              80             86
Finland            907          806            804            821
France       25,351      23,766       24,373       25,372
French Polynesia            660          564            564            589
Gabon  ..  ..  ..  ..
Gambia, The            138          136            207            216
Georgia         1,986        1,459         1,521         1,794
Germany       17,365      16,133       16,683       16,833
Ghana         2,008        2,100         2,100         2,190
Greece            735          429            331            319
Greenland  ..  ..  ..  ..
Grenada             41            43                1               1
Guam  ..  ..  ..  ..
Guatemala         5,838        6,573         7,471         8,540
Guinea            121          131              52             55
Guinea-Bissau             92            85              85            104
Guyana            330          294            265            275
Haiti         1,977        2,196         2,359         2,459
Honduras         3,370        3,666         3,864         4,322
Hong Kong SAR, China            372          387            399            430
Hungary         4,768        4,459         4,660         4,692
Iceland            212          209            201            172
India       70,389      68,910       62,744       68,968
Indonesia         8,551        9,659         8,891         8,997
Iran, Islamic Rep.         1,330        1,330         1,330         1,379
Iraq            729        1,004            986         1,035
Ireland            719          603            594            608
Isle of Man  ..  ..  ..  ..
Israel            859          853            963            990
Italy       10,087        9,517         9,537         9,287
Jamaica         2,269        2,361         2,433         2,522
Japan         3,734        3,325         3,819         4,578
Jordan         6,370        5,348         4,375         4,418
Kazakhstan            229          194            275            355
Kenya         1,441        1,569         1,745         1,970
Kiribati             17            16              17             18
Korea, Dem. Rep.  ..  ..  ..  ..
Korea, Rep.         6,551        6,444         6,504         6,332
Kosovo         1,099          971            986         1,115
Kuwait               4            34                4               4
Kyrgyz Republic         2,243        1,688         1,995         2,486
Lao PDR             40            93            116            124
Latvia         1,543        1,327         1,226         1,090
Lebanon         7,191        7,481         7,606         7,955
Lesotho            393          371            344            415
Liberia            506          641            549            580
Libya  ..  ..  ..  ..
Liechtenstein  ..  ..  ..  ..
Lithuania         2,113        1,372         1,280         1,302
Luxembourg         1,862        1,632         1,717         1,746
Macao SAR, China             37            40              28             29
Macedonia, FYR            367          307            291            314
Madagascar            286          272            250            262
Malawi             38            41              34             38
Malaysia         1,580        1,644         1,585         1,634
Maldives               3              4                4               4
Mali            920          920            920         1,040
Malta            253          226            221            215
Marshall Islands             26            27              28             29
Mauritania  ..  ..  ..  ..
Mauritius            249          249            249            262
Mexico       24,802      26,233       28,691       30,600
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.             23            23              23             24
Moldova         2,076        1,540         1,464         1,640
Monaco  ..  ..  ..  ..
Mongolia            255          261            260            269
Montenegro            431          381            396            426
Morocco         7,736        6,904         7,088         7,467
Mozambique            155          143              93             51
Myanmar            279          387            682            723
Namibia             81            47              66             43
Nepal         5,889        6,730         6,612         6,947
Netherlands         1,482        1,312         1,335         1,406
New Caledonia            721          613            613            642
New Zealand            305          285            274            297
Nicaragua         1,140        1,198         1,268         1,395
Niger            219          172            172            198
Nigeria       20,829      21,060       19,636       21,967
Northern Mariana Islands  ..  ..  ..  ..
Norway            760          609            594            614
Oman             39            39              39             40
Pakistan       17,244      19,306       19,761       19,665
Palau               2              2                2               2
Panama            756          554            502            533
Papua New Guinea             10            10                3               3
Paraguay            507          554            657            732
Peru         2,637        2,725         2,884         3,039
Philippines       28,691      29,799       31,145       32,808
Poland         7,409        6,783         6,712         6,805
Portugal         4,446        4,363         4,378         4,811
Puerto Rico  ..  ..  ..  ..
Qatar            499          437            379            668
Romania         3,381        3,085         3,489         4,944
Russian Federation         7,777        6,903         6,678         8,026
Rwanda            184          159            173            181
Samoa            158          144            136            143
San Marino  ..  ..  ..  ..
Sao Tome and Principe             27            20              18             19
Saudi Arabia            273          295            308            287
Senegal         1,929        1,929         1,929         2,238
Serbia         3,696        3,371         3,205         3,588
Seychelles             15            18              22             24
Sierra Leone             62            48              47             49
Singapore  ..  ..  ..  ..
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)             62            55              61             64
Slovak Republic         2,395        2,138         2,119         2,100
Slovenia            369          423            364            406
Solomon Islands             16            19              20             20
Somalia  ..  ..  ..  ..
South Africa            913          825            755            898
South Sudan  ..  ..  ..  ..
Spain       10,720      10,281       10,281       10,692
Sri Lanka         7,036        7,000         7,257         7,190
St. Kitts and Nevis             20            20              10             11
St. Lucia             32            32              32             32
St. Martin (French part)  ..  ..  ..  ..
St. Vincent and the Grenadines             44            42              42             42
Sudan            507          151            153            177
Suriname               9              7                7               7
Swaziland             96            96              98            114
Sweden         4,558        3,364         2,855         2,819
Switzerland         2,406        2,517         2,497         2,488
Syrian Arab Republic         1,623        1,623         1,623         1,623
Tajikistan         3,384        2,259         1,867         2,220
Tanzania            389          388            411            435
Thailand         6,524        5,895         6,270         6,729
Timor-Leste             44            62              80             85
Togo            427          364            364            402
Tonga            129          138            138            146
Trinidad and Tobago            136          153            144            150
Tunisia         2,347        1,971         1,821         1,903
Turkey         1,739        1,395         1,186         1,045
Turkmenistan             30            16                9             10
Turks and Caicos Islands  ..  ..  ..  ..
Tuvalu               4              4                4               4
Uganda            888          902         1,146         1,375
Ukraine         7,354        5,845         6,146         7,895
United Arab Emirates  ..  ..  ..  ..
United Kingdom         4,936        5,003         4,582         4,374
United States         6,503        6,562         6,547         6,621
Uruguay             92            85              85            100
Uzbekistan         5,828        3,062         2,479         2,839
Vanuatu             28            24              19             19
Venezuela, RB            128          161            279            293
Vietnam       12,000      13,200       11,880       13,781
Virgin Islands (U.S.)  ..  ..  ..  ..
West Bank and Gaza         1,805        1,826         1,957         2,034
Yemen, Rep.         3,351        3,351         3,351         3,351
Zambia             58            47              38             42
Zimbabwe  ..  ..  ..  ..
World     597,859    582,053      573,131     613,466
Source: World Bank staff calculation based on data from IMF Balance of Payments Statistics database and data releases from central banks, national statistical agencies, and World Bank country desks.

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