Byline Imane Charioui, Director of Francophone Africa & Middle East
Beirut, Lebanon – 2022: As Lebanon goes through the worst economic crisis it has experienced since the mid-nineteenth century; Lebanese people have resorted to depending on the support of the diaspora in order to survive. This dependency is so evident in Lebanon’s new normal that Lebanon has been ranked the third largest recipient of remittances among 19 Arab countries.1
As well as being a vital lifeline for many families with members living abroad, remittances have an important impact on countries across the globe.
The top three countries that receive the most money from remittances are India, China, and Mexico. In general, the impact of remittances is much greater in countries with smaller economies. The countries with the highest percentage of total gross domestic product (GDP) are Tonga, Haiti, and Lebanon.
In 2021, international remittances increased 7.3% on 2020 figures to reach USD $589 billion.3 Over the past twenty years, the number of remittances sent to low- and middle-income countries has increased eight times over.
There are around 169 million migrant workers, 67% of whom reside in high-income countries.4
Transfers with WorldRemit are fast and secure, meaning your loved ones back home get the money they need when they need it.
On a small scale, we can certainly identify the immediate effect when we see what money is being sent for. Some of the main reasons people sent remittances home included daily expenses, medical expenses, education, gifts, rent/mortgage payments, and utilities payments.5
Remittances provide additional income and help with essential purchases, which go some way to helping reduce the rate of extreme poverty. This means they also act as a kind of social insurance by making households more economically stable. If a country’s economy begins to suffer, the flow of remittances can aid families in being less susceptible to the effects.For longer term stability, these remittances can also go towards investments like healthcare, education, and property.2
Remittances are beneficial for families both in the short- and long-term. When they’re sent for the immediate necessities like food and utilities, they’re a lifeline for many families, and when they go towards property or education, they contribute towards improving quality of life for years to come.
Over time, money from remittances sent to developing countries will find its way into the economy, whether it’s spent on short-term needs like food or long-term investments like property, which ultimately helps in strengthening the financial stability of a country.
This means that money for basic living costs wouldn’t normally be available to people in their country without the help of money sent from abroad.
The influence of remittances on economic growth and the quality of life for the families that receive them is evidently positive. WorldRemit enables remittances to be sent easily, quickly, and at a lower cost through their application or website to empower migrants to support their families back home.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Sources:
- Millions of arrivals and billions of dollars”… Lebanon “catches its breath” during the tourist season. Al Hurra. June 2022. (Arabic)
- Leadership, T. (2022). The remittance effect: A lifeline for developing economies through the pandemic and into recovery. Retrieved 9 August 2022, from https://blog.oxfordeconomics.com/content/the-remittance-effect-a-lifeline-for-developing-economies-through-the-pandemic-and-into-recovery
- Remittance Flows Register Robust 7.3 Percent Growth in 2021. (2022). Retrieved 9 August 2022, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/11/17/remittance-flows-register-robust-7-3-percent-growth-in-2021
- World Migration Report 2022. (2022). Retrieved 9 August 2022, from https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/wmr-2022-interactive/
- Sending money in a time of COVID: Customer Survey. (2022). Retrieved 9 August 2022, from https://www.worldremit.com/en/blog/money-transfer/sending-money-in-a-time-of-covid-customer-survey/
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