People in low and middle income countries depend on migrant workers money sent home, which is expected to have increased by about 5% to $626 billion in 2022, according to new data.
According to the World Bank, the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a dramatic increase in the amount of money that Ukrainian expatriates sent home, bringing the total amount of remittances made world wide to $794billion.
In low- and middle-income nations, remittances constitute a significant source of foreign funding. While inflation has reduced the value of migrants earnings in some countries, the value of the money some were able to return home has increased due to the strengthening of some currencies, notably the US dollar and Russian rouble.
Nigeria Received Approximately $21 billion in Global Remittance in 2022.
In 2022, Nigeria received $21 billion in remittances from abroad, up from $19.5 billion in 2021. This is an increase of 7.5% from 2021. Remittances to Africa increased significantly in 2021, rising by 16.4% to $50 billion, exceeding predictions made in the May 2022 Migration and Development Brief (World Bank/KNOMAD 2021a).
According to the World Bank, a resumption of greater flows to Nigeria, which reached $19.5 billion on the growth of 13.2%, is largely responsible for the increase in remittance inflow into Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria experienced a significant increase in flows in 2021 (13.2%), which carried over into the first quarter of 2022. However, growth fell in Q2 data to 0.5% vis-à-vis the same period of 2021. Nigeria’s remittance inflows have averaged $21 billion since 2014 with $24.3 billion and $17.2 billion is the highest and lowest recorded in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
The report also notes that the largest recipients of remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa during 2022—measured in US dollar terms—including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Senegal. According to the World Bank, senders had to pay 7.8% to send $200 to African countries during Q2 2022. The average cost of remitting $200 from countries in the least expensive corridors amounted to 3.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2022.
Future remittance growth in remittances depends on the economic health of high-income nations, the Bank says. It predicts that the growth rate will slow to 2% in 2023, and says there are substantial risks to this vital flow of money from the rich world to less well-off nations.