Strong economic activity in the GCC has driven the growth of remittances, according to a new World Bank report
Among the developing country regions, South Asia (SA) and Middle East and North African (MENA) saw the strongest growth in remittances, which the report attributes primarily to strong economic activity in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
“Remittances to Egypt have surged since 2010, perhaps driven by increased support by migrants to their families in the face of political uncertainty or savings brought by returning migrants,” explained the World Bank in its latest Migration and Development Brief.
The growth of remittances is expected to be stronger during 2013-15, and remittances to developing countries are predicted to surpass $400 billion in 2012. “We expect growth of flows to remain robust in regions that rely on remittance flows from the US, the GCC, and Russia. Increasingly harsh rhetoric and policies hostile towards migrants in many destination countries, especially Europe, however, could discourage the flow of migrants in the future and subsequently weaken remittance flows,” it said.
The estimated growth of remittances in 2012 is slightly lower, and forecasts for 2013-15 higher, than the forecasts reported earlier this year in Migration and Development Brief 18. The revision reflects updated economic projections by the World Bank for major remittance source countries in Europe, the GCC countries, Russia and the US.
