Publication: Remittance Trends 2006
Date
2006-11
ISSN
Published
2006-11
Author(s)
Abstract
In nominal dollar terms Latin America
and the Caribbean region remains the largest recipient of
(recorded) remittances 2006. However, as a share of gross
domestic product (GDP) remittances are highest in the Middle
East and North Africa region. Due to a lack of data,
remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa are grossly
underestimated. Recorded remittance flows have grown
robustly in virtually every region, although most quickly in
Europe and Central Asia and in East Asia and the Pacific.
The doubling of recorded remittances over the past five
years is a result of: (a) increased scrutiny of flows since
the terrorist attacks of September 2001; (b) reduction in
remittance costs and expanding networks in the remittance
industry; (c) the depreciation of the U.S. dollar (which
raises the value of remittances denominated in other
currencies); and (d) growth in the migrant stock and
incomes. Although the United States remains the largest
single source of remittances, many remittance-receiving
developing countries also have a significant number of
migrants in countries in the Euro area. Since remittances
receipts in developing countries are typically measured in
US dollars, movement in the Euro-dollar exchange rates can
have a significant valuation effects on remittance, even
without accounting for the wealth effect when the Euro
appreciates or depreciates in real terms relative to the dollar.
Citation
“Mohapatra, Sanket; Ratha, Dilip; Xu, Zhimei. 2006. Remittance Trends 2006. Migration and Development Brief; No. 2. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/95ae4cd6-deff-5783-bf88-f8959baf555d License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”