India highest recipient of remittances in 2017

As per World Bank (WB)’s latest report “Migration and Development Brief”, India is the highest recipient of remittances globally in 2017 with 69 billion, followed by China (64 billion), the Philippines (33 billion), Mexico (31 billion), Nigeria (22 billion), and Egypt (20 billion). In its report, the World Bank estimated that officially recorded remittances to low-and middle-income countries reached USD 466 billion in 2017. This was an increase of 8.5% over USD 429 billion in 2016. Remittances are expected to continue to increase in 2018, by 4.1% to reach 485 billion. Global remittances are expected to grow 4.6% to 642 billion in 2018. As per report, the longer-term risks to growth of remittances include stricter immigration policies in many remittance-source countries. Also, de-risking by banks and increased regulation of money transfer operators, both aimed at reducing financial crime, continue to constrain the growth of formal remittances.