UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
IMPACT OF REMITTANCES
ON POVERTY IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
United nations ConferenCe on trade and development
Impact of RemIttances
on poveRty In
DevelopIng countRIes
New York and Geneva, 2011
Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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UNCTAD/DITC/TNCD/2010/8
Copyright © United Nations, 2011
All rights reserved. Printed in Switzerland
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Contents
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1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 2
2. REMITTANCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................................... 4
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3. TRENDS IN MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES .............................. 8
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4. IMPACT OF REMITTANCES ON POVERTY IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ................... 17
5. IMPACT OF REMITTANCES ON POVERTY IN INDIA ................... 23
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6. IMPACT OF REMITTANCES ON POVERTY IN KERALA .............. 27
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7. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ................. 30
appenDI
RefeRences
Tables
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FIGURes
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aPPeNDIX Tables
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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IntRoDuctIon
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Secondly,
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1. introdUCtion
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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RemIttances anD economIc
Development RevIe of lIteRatuRe
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2.1. Link between remittances and household development
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2. remittanCes and eConomiC development revie
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2.2. Link between remittances and GDP
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2.3. Link between remittance, consumption and investment8
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2.4. link between remittances, poverty and welfare
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2. remittanCes and eConomiC development revie
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2.5. Link between remittances and foreign exchange
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2.6. Link between remittances and employment
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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tRenDs In mIgRatIon anD RemIttances
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3.1. Trends in global migrants
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oeCd
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Table 1. Global migrants stocks (in million)
Migrants in
Migrants from
Developing
countries
High-income OeCD
countries
High-income non
OeCD countries
Total
Developing
countries
73.9
(47%)
61.8
(40%)
20.1
(13%)
155.8
(100%)
High-income
OECD countries
3.4
(11%)
25.5
(85%)
1.2
(4%)
30.1
(100%)
High-income nonOECD countries
0.8
(17%)
3.6
(77%)
0.3
(6%)
4.7
(100%)
Total
78
(41%)
90.9
(48%)
21.6
(11%)
191
(100%)
Source: World Bank Working Paper No: 102 (2007).13
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Table 2. Top 10 immigration economies, 2005
Countries
No. of immigrants
(In Millions)
Countries
as %
of Population
United States
38.4
Qatar
78
Russian Federation
12.1
Andorra
78
Germany
10.1
Utd. Arab Emirates
71
Ukraine
6.8
Monaco
70
France
6.5
Kuwait
62
Saudi Arabia
6.4
Isle of Man
48
Canada
6.1
Channel Islands
46
India
5.7
West Bank & Gaza
45
United Kingdom
5.4
Singapore
43
Spain
4.8
Bahrain
41
Source: United Nations Population Division.
Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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Table 3. Top 10 emigration economies, 2005
No. of emigrants
(In Millions)
Countries
Countries
as %
of Population
Mexico
11.5
Jamaica
39
Russian Federation
11.5
Bosnia & Herzegovina
38
India
10.0
Trinidad & Tobago
28
China
7.3
Albania
27
Ukraine
6.1
Armenia
27
Bangladesh
4.9
West Bank & Gaza
26
Turkey
4.4
Kazakhstan
25
Ukraine
4.2
Georgia
23
Germany
4.1
Ireland
22
Kazakhstan
3.7
Serbia & Montenegro
22
Source: Development Prospects Group, World Bank.
3.2 Trends in global remittances
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Table 4. Top 10 recipients of remittances during 2008
Top 10 Countries
$ billion
Top 10 Countries
% of GDP
India
52
Tajikistan
50
China
49
Tonga
38
Mexico
26
Republic of Moldova
31
Philippines
19
Kyrgyzstan
28
Poland
11
Lesotho
27
Nigeria
10
Samoa
26
Romania
9
Lebanon
25
Bangladesh
9
Guyana
24
Egypt
9
Nepal
22
Viet Nam
7
Honduras
20
Source: Development Prospects Group, World Bank.
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3.3. Trends in Indian migrants and remittances
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3.3.1 Trends in migrants from India
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Table 5. annual growth of remittances inflows in different regions
Income groups/
regions
all developing
countries
Low-income
countries
1991
1995
2000
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
9.71
9.50
8.74
17.06
21.03
18.33
22.93
16.72
-16.66
13.38
10.37
15.18
21.82
23.88
23.37
28.32
Middle-income
countries
12.70
9.25
8.62
17.22
20.96
17.85
22.89
15.64
Lower MICs
12.79
17.45
8.54
12.40
22.58
18.57
28.98
21.04
Upper MICs
12.56
-1.26
8.76
25.27
18.52
16.72
13.31
5.97
East Asia and
Pacific
17.48
43.60
5.11
23.37
25.10
14.15
23.80
20.76
-13.15
-10.94
9.67
45.34
43.59
24.10
35.98
13.83
Latin America and
Caribbean
18.23
20.70
13.54
18.36
15.68
18.11
6.82
2.34
Middle East and
North Africa
11.91
-5.38
0.76
13.13
8.35
4.62
20.11
10.62
Europe and
Central Asia
South Asia
8.60
5.05
14.11
-5.51
18.23
25.35
27.09
35.63
Sub-Saharan
Africa
-0.17
38.58
4.29
34.35
16.92
34.66
47.64
13.37
High-income
OeCD
3.08
15.28
-4.06
12.93
3.67
7.58
17.05
10.57
High-income
non-OeCD
3.72
-30.44
-1.96
35.10
12.48
5.33
8.64
14.90
High-income
3.10
12.43
-3.99
14.11
4.23
7.43
16.49
10.84
World
6.09
10.77
3.69
16.13
15.85
15.31
21.26
15.26
Source: World Bank.
Note: MIC stands for middle-income countries.
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Table 6. estimated size of overseas Indian community: Top 15 countries (December 2001)
Countries
PIOs
Saudi Arabia
Indian citizen
2,500,000
United Kingdom
South Africa
2,000
stateless
Total
population
400,000
2,902,000
N.A
N.A
N.A
1,678,765
1,600,000
15,000
50,000
1,665,000
...
1,500,000
...
1,500,000
N.A
N.A
N.A
1,200,000
United Arab Emirates
Canada
Mauritius
N.A
N.A
N.A
1,000,000
Canada
700,000
150,000
1,000
851,000
Mauritius
704,640
11,116
...
715,756
Trinidad &Tobago
500,000
600
...
500,600
Guyana
395,250
100
...
395,350
Fiji
336,579
250
...
336,829
Oman
Singapore
1,000
311,000
...
312,000
217,000
9,000
81,000
307,000
1,000
294,000
...
295,000
Kuwait
Note: PIOs - Persons of Indian Origin.
Source: Compiled from the Report of High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora.
3.3.2. Trends in Indian remittances
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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Table 7. Distribution of annual labour outflows from India to major destinations
Countries
2002
2004
2006
2007
2008
Up to March 2009
United Arab Emirates
95034
175262
254774
312695
349827
35905
Saudi Arabia
99453
12322
134059
195437
228406
80962
Malaysia
10512
31464
36500
30916
21123
4611
Qatar
12596
16325
76324
88483
82937
11953
Oman
41209
33275
67992
95462
89659
17175
Kuwait
4859
52064
47449
48467
35562
10982
Bahrain
20807
22980
37688
29967
31924
6806
Maldives
---
3233
4671
ECNR
ECNR
ECNR
Mauritius
---
3544
1795
ECNR
ECNR
ECNR
Jordan
---
2576
1485
1254
1377
242
Other
83193
121915
14175
6772
7786
2011
Total
367663
474960
676912
809453
848601
170647
High-income non-OECD
3.72
-30.44
-1.96
35.10
12.48
5.33
High-income
3.10
12.43
-3.99
14.11
4.23
7.43
World
6.09
10.77
3.69
16.13
15.85
15.31
Source: Compiled from Annual Report (2008-09), Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
ECNR: Emigration Clearance Not Reported.
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Table 8. Immigration clearance of workers granted during 2002–08, state-wise shares
Ranks
(in 2008)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
states
2002
2004
2006
2007
2008
Kerala
UP
Tamil Nadu
Andhra Pradesh
Rajasthan
Bihar
Punjab
West Bengal
Maharashtra
Karnataka
Gujarat
Orissa
Delhi
Madhya Pradesh
Haryana
Others
Total
22.29
5.25
21.53
10.45
6.32
5.23
5.34
2.27
6.93
3.82
3.24
0.47
1.09
2.02
0.12
3.63
100
13.37
5.77
22.94
15.28
7.39
4.59
5.33
1.89
6.04
4.05
4.68
1.47
1.27
1.87
0.27
3.78
100
17.74
9.77
22.99
14.43
7.42
5.39
5.81
2.21
2.27
3.60
1.96
0.61
1.34
1.04
0.03
2.79
100
18.59
11.32
18.64
12.98
8.76
6.40
6.66
3.07
2.66
3.34
2.48
0.83
0.66
0.45
0.23
2.58
100
21.29
16.41
15.18
11.49
7.61
7.15
6.42
3.07
2.92
2.64
1.85
1.05
0.53
0.27
0.21
1.63
100
Up to 31 March
2009
20.58
20.48
13.33
11.12
6.63
7.66
4.38
3.25
3.20
3.22
1.69
1.05
0.41
0.31
0.20
2.23
100
Source: Offices of the Protectors of Emigrants.
Figure 1. Trends and composition of remittances transfer
Inward remittances
for family maintenance
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
Local withdrawal
redemption from NRI deposits
2002-03 2003-04
Total Remittance
2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
(R)
Source: Invisibles in India’s Balance of Payments, “RBI Bulletin”, March 2009.
Notes: R: Revised, PR: Partially Revised and P: Preliminary.
2007-08 2008-09
(PR) (Apr-Sep) (P)
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
Table 9. India’s workers’ remittances, compensation of employees, and migrant transfers,
credit ($ million)
Outflow
as % of Inflow
Years
Inflow
Outflow
1980
2,757
29
1.05
1981
2,301
15
0.65
1982
2,618
14
0.53
1983
2,660
40
1.50
1984
2,295
27
1.18
1985
2,469
31
1.26
1986
2,240
42
1.88
1987
2,665
65
2.44
1988
2,315
93
4.02
1989
2,614
99
3.79
1990
2,384
106
4.45
1991
3,289
52
1.58
1992
2,897
68
2.35
1993
3,523
259
7.35
1994
5,857
351
5.99
1995
6,223
419
6.73
1996
8,766
538
6.14
1997
10,331
162
1.57
1998
9,479
44
0.46
1999
11,124
36
0.32
2000
12,890
486
3.77
2001
14,273
751
5.26
2002
15,736
1,187
7.54
2003
20,999
1,265
6.02
2004
18,750
1,653
8.81
2005
22,125
1,341
6.06
2006
28,334
1,580
5.58
2007
37,217
1,580
4.25
2008
51,581
1,580
3.06
2009
47,000
...
...
Source: World Bank, Migration and development brief 11 (Nov. 2009).
4. impaCt of remittanCes on povert in developin CoUntries empiriCal anal sis
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Table 10. Inflows and outflows from NRI deposits, local withdrawals and remittances
Years
local withPrivate transfers
local withdrawals
drawals from (included in current
as % of private
NRI deposits
account of boP)
transfers
Inflows
Outflows
1999-00
7,405
5,865
4,120
12,290
33.5
2000-01
8,988
6,672
4,727
13,065
36.2
2001-02
11,435
8,681
8,546
15,760
54.2
2002-03
10,214
7,236
6,644
17,189
38.6
2003-04
14,281
10,639
10,585
22,182
47.7
2004-05
8,071
9,035
8,907
21,075
42.3
2005-06
17,835
15,046
12,454
24,951
49.9
2006-07 (R)
19,914
15,593
13,208
30,835
42.8
2007-08 (PR)
29,401
29,222
18,919
43,506
43.5
2008-09
(Apr-Sep) (P)
18,237
17,164
11,217
27,042
41.5
2007-08
(Apr-Sept) (PR)
12,227
12,305
7,891
18,025
43.8
Source: Invisibles in India’s Balance of Payments: An Analysis of Trade in Services, Remittances
and Income, RBI, March-16, 2009.
Notes: P: Provisional, PR: Partially Revised and R: Revised.
Impact of RemIttances on poveRty
In DevelopIng countRIes empIRIcal
analysIs
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Impact of RemIttances on poveRty In DevelopIng countRIes
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dp
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Log (POVit) = α1 + α2 log (PCYit) + α3 log (INEQit) + α 4 log (REMit) + εit ………(1)
(Where, i = 1.....N, t = 1....Ti )
pov
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how
poor the are poor
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