2020 - India received $83 billion in remittances

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  2020 - India received $83 billion in remittances

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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• The story: India story in remittances has continued unabated. In 2020, it received over USD 83 billion, a small drop of 0.2 per cent from the previous year. This was despite a crippling pandemic that devastated the world economy. This data is as per a World Bank report.
• China distant second: China received USD 59.5 billion in remittances in 2020 against USD 68.3 billion in 2019, and was a distant second. In 2019, India had received USD 83.3 billion in remittances.
• India's performance: India's remittances fell by just 0.2 per cent in 2020, the decline being due to a 17 per cent drop in remittances from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which offset resilient flows from the United States and other host countries.

1. India and China are followed by Mexico (USD42.8 billion), the Philippines (USD34.9 billion), Egypt (USD29.6 billion), Pakistan (USD26 billion), France (USD24.4 billion) and Bangladesh (USD21 billion)
2. In Pakistan, remittances rose by 17 per cent, with the biggest growth coming from Saudi Arabia, followed by the European Union countries and the United Arab Emirates.
3. In Bangladesh, remittances also showed a brisk uptick in 2020 (18.4 per cent), and Sri Lanka witnessed remittance growth of 5.8 per cent.
4. In contrast, remittances to Nepal fell by about two per cent, reflecting a 17 per cent decline in the first quarter of 2020.

• Migration and Development: The World Bank, in its latest Migration and Development Brief, said despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020. Officially recorded remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries reached USD540 billion in 2020, just 1.6 per cent below the 2019 total of USD 548 billion.

1. The reason remittances have remained strong is that as COVID-19 devastated families around the world, remittances continue to provide a critical lifeline for the poor and vulnerable
2. Remittance inflows rose in Latin America and the Caribbean (6.5 per cent), South Asia (5.2 per cent) and the Middle East and North Africa (2.3 per cent). However, it fell for East Asia and the Pacific (7.9 per cent), for Europe and Central Asia (9.7 per cent), and for Sub-Saharan Africa (12.5 per cent), the report showed.

• What it shows: The strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of timely availability of data. Given its growing significance as a source of external financing for low- and middle-income countries, there is a need for better collection of data on remittances. The resilience of remittance flows is indeed remarkable, helping to meet families’ increased need for livelihood support.
• Outflows: Remittance outflow was the maximum from the United States (USD68 billion), followed by UAE (USD43 billion), Saudi Arabia (USD34.5 billion), Switzerland (USD27.9 billion), Germany (USD22 billion), and China (USD18 billion). Remittances outflow from India in 2020 was USD 7 billion, against USD 7.5 billion in 2019, according to the World Bank.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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