Overseas Indians send whopping $80b in remittances this year: WB report

India retains its top position, China second with $67b; Pakistan also makes it to top 10 with $19b remittances

Indian citizens living in different countries around the world have sent a whopping $80 billion back home making it the world’s top recipient of remittances this year, according to a World Bank report issued on Saturday.

China comes second with $67 billion, Mexico and the Philippines, with $34 billion each, secure third and fourth slots while Egypt managed fifth position with $26 billion, Hindustan Times reported.

Pakistan also makes it top 10 with its diaspora sending $19 billion back home in remittance, according to the global lender. Bangladesh and Pakistan both experienced strong upticks of 17.9% and 6.2% in 2018 respectively, according to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.



The bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to developing countries will increase by 10.8% to reach $528 billion in 2018. This new record level follows a robust growth of 7.8% in 2017.

Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 10.3% to $689 billion, it said.

Over the last three years, India has registered a significant flow of remittances from $62.7 billion in 2016 to $65.3 billion 2017, the year in which remittances constituted 2.7 %of India’s GDP, said the report.

Remittances to South Asia are projected to increase by 13.5% to $132 billion in 2018, a stronger pace than the 5.7% growth seen in 2017.



The upsurge is driven by stronger economic conditions in advanced economies, particularly the US, and the increase in oil prices having a positive impact on outflows from some GCC countries such as the UAE which reported a 13% growth in outflows for the first half of 2018.

For 2019, it is projected that remittances growth for the region will slow to 4.3% due to a moderation of growth in advanced economies, lower migration to GCC and benefits from oil price spurt dissipating.

As global growth is projected to moderate, future remittances to low- and middle-income countries are expected to grow moderately by 4% to reach $549 billion in 2019. Global remittances are expected to grow 3.7% to $715 billion in 2019.

This article originally appeared on Hindustan Times