Moldova – a leader by share of remittances in GDP
Moldova ranks second in the list of the top recipients in terms of the share of remittances in GDP among developing countries with a share of 38.3% in 2007. It is outstripped by Tajikistan with a 45.5% share, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008.
Tonga comes next with a share of 35.1%. It is followed by Lesotho with 28.7% and Honduras with 24.5%.
After several years of strong growth, remittance flows to developing countries began to slow down in the third quarter of 2008. This slowdown is expected to deepen further in 2009 in response to the global financial crisis, although the exact magnitude of the growth moderation or outright decline in some cases is hard to predict given the uncertainties about global growth, oil and non-oil commodity prices, and currency exchange rates.
The top five recipients of migrant remittances in 2007 were India ($27 billion), China ($25.7 billion), Mexico ($25 billion), the Philippines ($17 billion), and France ($12.5 billion). While South-South migration nearly equals South-North migration, rich countries are still the main remittances source, led by the U.S.
The United States was also the top immigration country in 2005, with 38.4 million immigrants, followed by the Russian Federation (12.1 million), and Germany (10.1 million). Among low-income countries, India had the highest immigration volume (5.7 million), followed by Pakistan (3.3 million).
Last year, the Moldovans working abroad sent home through commercial banks $1.218,3 billion. Over the first eight months of this year, remittances came to $1.108,8 billion. REPORTER.MD
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