Remittances to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean

World-wide, there were around 184 million migrants who left their home country in 2023 - driven by economic opportunities, violence and conflict and other motives. Most of these women and men send part of their income to family members and friends in their regions of origin. In 2023, these remittances to low- and middle-income countries amounted to an estimated 656 billion dollars. This is more than international development funds and foreign direct investment in these countries combined.

In more than 60 countries, remittances contribute three percent or more of the gross domestic product. Even during the Covid19 pandemic, remittances remained relatively stable. Although remittances to low- and middle-income countries fell in 2020, they recovered strongly and have continued to grow since then. Remittances from migrants improve food security and contribute to poverty reduction.

However, the available data on migration and remittances is incomplete and patchy. One reason for this is that remittances are sent monthly or semi-annually or only on certain occasions, e.g. in emergencies. Some use banks or money transfer agents for transfers, others use informal channels or carry it as cash.

For this reason, the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced at the end of 2024 that it would develop a new free global data platform. RemitSCOPE is designed to provide key data on remittances to low- and middle-income countries, including how much goes to rural development. The platform is a central global repository for remittances and remittance-related data and is designed to provide information for policy and business decisions. The platform contains the latest data and figures. It brings together data that is otherwise scattered across different agencies, organizations or research institutions. Data is now available for 54 African countries and 32 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Asian countries are soon to follow. Facts and figures on remittances, migration, remittance costs, financial inclusion, digitalization and more are listed. The aim of RemitSCOPE is to improve access to digital remittances, reduce remittance costs and facilitate access to appropriate financial products.

Platform combines data - and more

Remittances to Africa were estimated at more than 90 billion dollars in 2023, with the highest amounts going to Nigeria and Egypt. The US was the country from which most remittances came; African countries accounted for just over 20 percent of total remittances. The average cost of a remittance to an African country at the beginning of 2024 was 8.4 percent of the remittance amount; for a remittance amount of 1,000 dollars, this was a whopping 84 dollars.

An estimated 157 billion dollars were remitted to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023, 66 billion of which went to Mexico alone. Here too - unsurprisingly - migrants living in the USA accounted for the largest share with more than 100 billion dollars. Of the 157 billion dollars in total remittances to the region, 13.5 billion dollars, i.e. less than 10 percent, came from the region itself. At 5.9 percent, the average cost of remittances to the region was well below that of Africa. Both regions have experienced a strong increase in remittances of over 14 percent in the last three years. The UN assumes that they will continue to rise. However, in view of more rigid immigration policies in important remittance countries, this is no longer quite so certain.