Africans in diaspora sent $35.2 billion home in 2015

Sub-Sahara Africans living outside their home countries sent US$35.2 billion home in 2015, according to the latest figures released by the World Bank. Nigerians alone accounted for $21bn of all remittances to the region. The Bank’s figures also show that officially recorded remittances to developing countries amounted to $431.6bn in 2015, an increase of 0.4 percent over $430bn in 2014.

India retained its global top spot in 2015, attracting about $69bn in remittances. Other large recipients in 2015 were China, with $64bn, the Philippines ($28bn), Mexico ($25bn) and Nigeria ($21bn).

The global average cost of sending $200 was about 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, down slightly from the previous quarter and 0.6 percentage points below the end of 2014. Sub-Saharan Africa, with an average cost of 9.5 per cent, remains the highest-cost region. // Sola Jolaoso

Top 10 remittance receivers in Sub-Sahara Africa
(in US$)

  1. Nigeria   21bn
  2. Ghana    2.0bn
  3. Kenya 1.6bn
  4. Senegal 1.6bn
  5. Uganda   1.0bn
  6. Mali    0.9bn
  7. South Africa 0.9bn
  8. Liberia    0.7bn
  9. Ethiopia 0.6bn
  10. Sudan 0.5bn

Source: World Bank 2016

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