Top remittance receivers in 2007

According to a WB report on Migration and Remittances Factbook 2007, the top five recipients of migrant remittances in 2007 were:

1. India ($27 billion)

2. China ($25.7 billion)

3. Mexico ($25 billion)

4. the Philippines ($17 billion)

5. France ($12.5 billion)

The top emigration countries were:

1. Mexico (11.5 million)/Russia (11.5 million)

2. India (10.0 million)

3. China (7.3 million)

4. Ukraine (6.1 million)

5. Bangladesh (4.9 million)

In 2007 alone recorded remittances flows worldwide are estimated to be $318 billion, of which $240 billion went to the developing countries. Here is the world's standing on migration and remittances. Nearly 200 million people (3% of the world population) live outside the country of their birth.

FAST FACTS ON MIGRATION & REMITTANCES

• The top immigration countries, relative to population are Qatar (78 percent), the United Arab Emirates (71 percent), Kuwait (62 percent), Singapore (43 percent), Israel (40 percent), and Jordan (39 percent). The average share of immigrants in population is under 10 percent in high-income OECD countries.

• The Mexico–United States corridor is the largest migration corridor in the world, accounting for 10.4 million migrants by 2005. Migration corridors in the Former Soviet Union— Russia–Ukraine and Ukraine–Russia —are the next largest, followed by Bangladesh–India. In these corridors, natives became migrants without moving when new international boundaries were drawn.

• The volume of South–South migration is almost as large as that of South–North migration, which accounts for 47 percent of the total emigration from developing countries. South–South migration is larger than South–North migration in Sub-Saharan Africa (72 percent), Europe and Central Asia (64 percent), and South Asia (54 percent).

• Smaller countries tend to have higher rates of skilled emigration. Almost all the physicians trained in Grenada and Dominica have emigrated abroad. St. Lucia, Cape Verde, Fiji, São Tomé and Principe, and Liberia are also among the countries with the highest emigration rates of physicians.

• In 2007, the top recipient countries of recorded remittances were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and France. As a share of GDP, however, smaller countries such as Tajikistan (36 percent), Moldova (36 percent), Tonga (32 percent), the Kyrgyz Republic (27 percent), and Honduras (26 percent) were the largest recipients in 2006.

• Rich countries are the main source of remittances. The United States is by far the largest, with $42 billion in recorded outward flows in 2006. Saudi Arabia ranks as the second largest, followed by Switzerland and Germany.

And, here is how my home country, Nepal, stands in this global migration and remittance picture:

• Inward remittance flows: US$ 1453 million in 2006 (US$ 1600 million estimated for 2007)

• Inward remittance flows amounted to 18% of GDP in 2006

• Outward remittance flows: US$ 79 million in 2006

• Outward remittance flows amounted to 1.0% of GDP in 2006

• Top ten destination countries: India, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, United States, United Kingdom, Brunei, Republic of Korea, Japan, Germany, and Australia

• Stock of emigrants as a percentage of population: 2.8% in 2005