India became the largest remittances receiving country at USD 72 billion this year followed by China at USD 64 billion, the World Bank said today.
The US emerged as the largest remittance source country with an estimated USD 56 billion in outward flows in 2014.
"India was the largest remittance receiving country, with an estimated USD 72 billion in 2015, followed by China (USD 64 billion), and the Philippines (USD 30 billion)," the World Bank said in a report.
In outward flow, the US was followed by Saudi Arabia (USD 37 billion), and Russia (USD 33 billion) in 2014, the Bank said in the report.
Noting that the number of international migrants is expected to surpass 250 million this year, an all-time high, as people search for economic opportunity, the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 said the fast growing developing countries have increasingly become a strong magnet for people from other parts of the developing world.
International migrants will send USD 601 billion to their families in their home countries this year, with developing countries receiving USD 441 billion, the report produced by the World Bank Group's Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) initiative said.
"At more than three times the size of development aid, international migrants' remittances provide a lifeline for millions of households in developing countries. In addition, migrants hold more than USD 500 billion in annual savings," it said.
"Together, remittances and migrant savings offer a substantial source of financing for development projects that can improve lives and livelihoods in developing countries," said Dilip Ratha, co-author of the Factbook.
The top 10 migrant destination countries are the US, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, the UAE, UK, France, Canada, Spain and Australia.
The top 10 migrant source countries are India, Mexico, Russia, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and UK.
Mexico-US was the largest migration corridor in the world, accounting for 13 million migrants in 2013.
Russia-Ukraine was the second largest, followed by Bangladesh-India, and Ukraine-Russia.
"There is ample research to demonstrate that migration, both of highly-skilled and low skilled workers, generates numerous benefits for receiving and sending countries. The diaspora of developing countries and return migration can be a source of capital, trade, investment, knowledge, and technology transfers," said Sonia Plaza, co-author of the Factbook.
