THE latest Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) data show a continuous rise in Jamaica’s net remittances.

The data for October 2020, which was released last week, showed that net remittance inflows for the month accumulated to US$252.2 million, which was an increase of 36.9 per cent or US$67.9 million relative to October 2019. This increase emanated from a jump in gross remittance inflows of 33.1 per cent or US$67.6 million.

The BOJ indicated that this growth was further driven by a marginal decline of 1.6 per cent or US$0.3 million in outflows. The central bank remittance bulletin showed that inflows via remittance companies was the primary driver for the increase in gross remittance inflows.

Inflows through remittance companies for the month jumped by 38.1 per cent. Other remittances also recorded an increase of 10.3 per cent for the month of October.

SIX-MONTH REMITTANCE DATA

For the six-month period April to October 2020, net remittance inflows increased by 31.6 per cent or US$401.1 million to US$1671.8 million relative to the previous corresponding period in 2019. This increase resulted from a growth of 26.1 per cent or US$372.7 million in total remittance inflows, further driven by a decline of 18.1 per cent or US$28.4 million in total remittance outflows.

The improvement in inflows, according to the BOJ, was primarily driven by an increase of 29.9 per cent in remittance companies, while other remittances recorded an increase of 6.6 per cent. The largest source market of remittances flows to Jamaica for October 2020 was the USA whose share increased to 68.9 per cent, moving from 64.3 per cent recorded for October 2019.

Other source countries, which contributed a notable share of remittances for the month, were Canada at 10.6 per cent followed by the UK and the Cayman Islands at 11.0 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively.

JAMAICA OUTPACES MEXICO IN REMITTANCE GROWTH

In comparison to other countries for the period January to October 2020, Jamaica’s growth rate in remittance inflows of 19.3 per cent was higher than that of Mexico which registered a growth rate of 11.7 per cent, while Guatemala and El Salvador also registered growth for the period.

In the case of Guatemala, that country saw an increase of roughly 5.1 per cent and El Salvador inched up by 2.6 per cent. Overall, the period of January to October 2020 had remittance inflows totalling US$2.36 billion.