India to retain top spot in remittances: World Bank

Washington, December 8

India will retain its position as the world’s top recipient of remittances this year with its diaspora sending a whopping $80 billion back home, the World Bank said in a report on Saturday.

India is followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines ($34 billion each) and Egypt ($26 billion), according to the global lender. With this, India has retained its top spot on remittances, according to the latest edition of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.

The Bank estimates that officially-recorded remittances to developing countries would increase by 10.8 per cent to reach $528 billion in 2018. This new record level follows a robust growth of 7.8 per cent in 2017. Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 10.3 per cent to $689 billion, it said.

Over the past three years, India has registered a significant flow of remittances from $62.7 billion in 2016 to $65.3 billion in 2017. In 2017, remittances constituted 2.7 per cent of India’s GDP, it said. The Bank said remittances to South Asia are projected to increase by 13.5 per cent to $132 billion in 2018. — PTI

Three good years    

• Over the past three years, India has registered a significant flow of remittances from $62.7 billion in 2016 to $65.3 billion in 2017.
• In 2018, the figure is set to rise to $80 billion