India, China And Mexico Top Of Migrant Remittances In 2007, Announces World Bank

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com, London

20 March 2008

The World Bank announced this week in its New Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008 that the top five recipients of migrant remittances in 2007 were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines and France.

The United States was also the top immigration country in 2005, with 38.4 million immigrants, followed by the Russian Federation (12.1 million), and Germany (10.1 million). Among low-income countries, India had the highest immigration volume (5.7 million), followed by Pakistan (3.3 million).

The Factbook provides snapshots of statistics on migration, recorded remittance flows, and skilled emigration for 194 countries, and 13 regional and income groups. Data from the Factbook have been available online since November 2007, with updating done in real time as new information becomes available.

“Migration is sometimes used as a political pawn, and policies are too often based on anecdotes or misconceptions. By presenting the numbers and facts behind these stereotypes, this publication aims to paint a more objective picture of a crucial aspect of development,” explained Uri Dadush, Director of the World Bank’s Development Prospects Group and International Trade Department. Mr Dadush also chairs the World Bank’s Working Group on Migration.

As migrant remittances have ballooned in size, they have caught the attention of high level policymakers, the World Bank observed.

For 2007, recorded remittances flows worldwide are estimated at USD318bn, of which USD240bn went to developing countries (these data were highlighted in a November 30, 2007 World Bank news release).

These flows do not include informal channels, which would significantly enlarge the volume of remittances if they were recorded.

“In many developing countries, remittances provide a life line for the poor,” commented Dilip Ratha, senior economist, and author of the Factbook with Zhimei Xu, adding:

“They are often an essential source of foreign exchange and a stabilizing force for the economy in turbulent times.”

While international migration is dominated by voluntary movement of people, there were 13.5 million refugees and asylum seekers, about 7% of global migrants, in 2005. The share of refugees in the population was 14.3% in low-income countries — over five times as large as that in high-income OECD countries. The Middle East and North Africa had the largest share of refugees and asylum seekers among immigrants (60%).

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