Vietnam is expected to receive around USD11 billion in overseas remittances in 2013, making the country 9th among the top 10 recipient countries in the world.
According to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Briefs, India is forecast to get USD71 billion in remittances, doubling its foreign direct investment from 2012; India is the biggest beneficiary of such funds. The runners-up are China with USD60 billion, the Philippines USD26 billion, Mexico USD22 billion, Nigeria USD21 billion and Egypt USD20 billion.
Migrants are expected to send a total of USD414 billion in remittances home this year to developing countries, the briefs said, and the figure will likely surpass USD500 billion by 2016. Developing countries are currently seeing an annual rise of 9% in overseas remittances.
Overseas remittances are particularly important to some developing countries, accounting for 48% of GDP in Tajikistant, 31% in the Kyrgyz Republic and 25% in Moldova.
Meanwhile, worldwide remittance flow may reach USD550 billion in 2013 and over USD700 billion in 2016.
The World Bank's figures revealed changes in the classification of nations as 'developing'. Some countries which received a large portion of total overseas remittances, including Russia, Latvia and Uruguay, have no longer been listed in the group of developing countries.
Many regions in the world have witnessed a sharp rise in overseas remittances while Latin America and the Caribbean have seen a drop due to the weaker US economy.
According to the briefs, the global average cost for sending remittances remains broadly unchanged at just under 9% (of the amount sent). However, many banks are imposing additional fees on beneficiaries receiving remittances. Also, some international banks are closing the bank accounts of money transfer operators because of concerns about money laundering and terrorism financing.
As the community of developing countries debates the post-2015 development agenda, there is a case to be made for reducing emigration costs, including the costs for job recruitment, visas, passports and residency permits.
