Over the past two decades, global remittances have grown significantly. India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the top five recipients of remittances last year, according to the World Bank.
African countries recorded more than $90-billion, with Egypt ranked the seventh-largest recipient worldwide, and Nigeria ninth.
Remittances are important for economic development, and the UN has identified them as key to achieving its Sustainable Development Goals. Countries are developing policies to encourage remittances, which support households and local economies.
The growth reflects not only how much easier it has become to send money ‘back home’, but also suggests a growing focus on data collection. While the World Bank’s figures, based on the IMF’s balance of payments guidelines, offer a window into global transfers, informal channels remain unaccounted for, suggesting the true scale of remits may be even larger.