India secured the position of the world’s largest recipient of remittances, with USD 87 billion in 2021. According to the World Bank, the United States is the biggest source of this remittance, accounting for over 20 per cent of these funds.
According to a Washington-based global lender, India is followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt.
Remittances are projected to grow three per cent in 2022 to USD 89.6 billion in India, reflecting a drop in overall migrant stock, as a large proportion of returnees from the Arab countries await the return, it said.
“Flows to India (the world’s largest recipient of remittances) are expected to reach USD 87 billion, a gain of 4.6 per cent – with the severity of COVID-19 caseloads and deaths during the second quarter (well above the global average) playing a prominent role in drawing altruistic flows (including for the purchase of oxygen tanks) to the country,” the World Bank report stated.
The bank said that remittances to low- and middle-income countries are projected to have grown a strong 7.3 per cent to reach USD 589 billion in 2021. This return to growth is more robust than earlier estimates and follows the resilience of flows in 2020 when remittances declined by only 1.7 per cent despite a severe global recession due to COVID-19, according to estimates from the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief.
“Remittance flows from migrants have greatly complemented government cash transfer programs to support families suffering economic hardships during the COVID-19 crisis. “Facilitating the flow of remittances to provide relief to strained household budgets should be a key component of government policies to support a global recovery from the pandemic,” said Michal Rutkowski, World Bank Global Director for Social Protection and Jobs.
India had received over USD 83 billion in remittances in 2020.
