Migrants are now sending earnings back to their families in developing countries at levels above US$441 billion, a figure three times the volume of official aid flows indicates the newly published Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, a study produced by the World Bank Group’s Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) initiative.

Within the Caribbean and Latin America, the top 10 remittance recipients in 2015 were: Mexico (US$25.7 billion), Guatemala (US$6.4 billion), the Dominican Republic (US$5.0 billion), Colombia (US$4.5 billion), EI Salvador (US$4.4 billion), Honduras (US$3.8 billion), Brazil (US$2.8 billion), Peru (US$2.7 billion), Ecuador (US$2.4 billion) and Jamaica (US$2.3 billion)

Migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean region totalled 32.5 million people, nearly 85 per cent of whom were living in OECD countries. The top 10 emigration countries in the region were Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, EI Salvador, Cuba, Peru, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Jamaica.

Remittances to the region amounted to $US67 billion in 2015, while outward remittances were US$6 billion in 2014.

The region has also seen rising levels of migrants with 292 tertiary graduates leaving Jamaica in 2013, ranking the island 23 places — behind first-placed India which saw 2,221 graduates leaving for better shores in the same year.

Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016 said that the number of migrants has risen rapidly in the past few years for reasons including job opportunities, labour shortages resulting from falling birth rates, internal conflict and war, natural disasters, climate change, and improved access to information through phone and the Internet.

“Migrants are now sending earnings back to their families in developing countries at levels above US$441 billion, a figure three times the volume of official aid flows. These inflows of cash constitute more than 10 per cent of GDP in some 25 developing countries and lead to increased investments in health, education, and small businesses in various communities,” the new study stated.

The study notes that while the migration of highly skilled people from small, poor countries can affect basic service delivery, “it can generate numerous benefits, including increased trade, investment, knowledge, and technology transfers from diaspora contributions”.

The fact book says that the number of international migrants was expected to surpass 250 million in 2015, an all-time high. In total, it is expected that international migrants will send US$601 billion to their families in their home countries.

The United States was the largest remittance source country, with an estimated $US56 billion in outward flows in 2014, followed by Saudi Arabia (US$37 billion), and Russia (US$33 billion). India was the largest remittance receiving country, with an estimated US$72 billion in 2015, followed by China (US$64 billion), and the Philippines (US$30 billion).

The study looked at remittance flows for 214 countries and territories. It updates the 2011 edition with additional data on bilateral migration. It indicates that more than 38 per cent of the international migrants in 2013 migrated from developing countries to other developing countries, compared to 34 per cent that moved from developing countries to advanced countries.

The top 10 migrant destination countries were the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom, France, Canada, Spain and Australia. The top 10 migrant source countries were India, Mexico, Russia, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

Immigration flow between Mexico and the United States 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.