According to the World Bank’s Global Transfer Costs Database, the tariff for sending $ 200 between countries remains high and represents an average of 6.4% of flows in the first quarter of 2021. This figure is over twice the 3% target by 2030 set by the Sustainable Development Goals.
It is in sub-Saharan Africa that it is most expensive to send money (8%) and in South Asia that the rate is lowest (4.6%). Data shows that fees are often higher when funds are transferred through banks, rather than through digital channels or operators offering cash transfer services.
Moreover, and this is the good news of the last World Bank report, the
Remittances to low- and middle-income countries (excluding China) are expected to experience a sharp increase of 7.3 percent to $ 589 billion in 2021, a World Bank report says.
For the second year in a row, remittances are expected to exceed the sum of foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance. This observation underlines the importance of these flows, which constitute a real lifeline by allowing households to finance essential products during periods of economic difficulty in the countries of origin of migrants.
Flows recorded strong growth in most regions: they increased by 21.6% in Latin America and the Caribbean, by 9.7% in the Middle East and North Africa, by 8% in South Asia. South, 6.2% in sub-Saharan Africa and 5.3% in Europe and Central Asia. In East Asia and the Pacific, remittances fell 3.8%, but excluding China, the region grew 1.7%. Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean has been exceptionally strong due to the economic recovery in the United States and other factors, including migrants’ responses to natural disasters in their countries of origin and remittances from migrants. country of origin to migrants in transit.
According to the World Bank’s Global Transfer Costs Database, the tariff for sending $ 200 between countries remains high and represents an average of 6.4% of flows in the first quarter of 2021. This figure is over twice the 3% target by 2030 set by the Sustainable Development Goals. It is in sub-Saharan Africa that it is most expensive to send money (8%) and in South Asia that the rate is lowest (4.6%). Data shows that fees are often higher when funds are transferred through banks, rather than through digital channels or operators offering cash transfer services.
Remittances are expected to increase a further 2.6% in 2022, in line with global macroeconomic forecasts. A resurgence of COVID-19 cases and the return of restrictions on mobility are the greatest downside risks to the global outlook for growth, jobs and remittances to developing countries. Stopping fiscal stimulus and employment support programs, as economies recover, could also dampen remittances
