A worker counts US dollar bills and Philippine pesos inside a money changer in Manila.Reuters
Migrants from developing nations are expected to send home $436bn in remittances this year, in the face of more deportations from some host countries, according to a World Bank report.
The remittance flow in 2014 is projected to increase 7.8% over the 2013 figure of $404bn (£238bn, €299bn), according to the latest issue of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief.
Remittances to the developing world are forecast to cross the half-trillion mark by 2016 and could hover around $516bn, according to revised projections from the WB.
In several developing economies, remittances are more stable than private debt and portfolio equity flows.
Remittances to developing nations.World Bank
The medium term outlook for remittances "is strong". However, "downside risks" emerge mainly from migrants' return to their home countries in the wake of conflict or deportation from host countries, the brief added.
Kaushik Basu, the WB's Chief Economist said in statement: "Remittances have become a major component of the balance of payments of nations. India led the chart of remittance flows, receiving $70bn [in 2013], followed by China with $60bn and the Philippines with $25bn.
"There is no doubt that these flows act as an antidote to poverty and promote prosperity. Remittances and migration data are also barometers of global peace and turmoil and this is what makes World Bank's KNOMAD initiative to organize, analyze, and make available these data so important."
Remittances as a share of GDP.World Bank
In Nepal, remittances are nearly double the Himalayan country's revenues from exports of goods and services. Elsewhere, in Sri Lanka and the Philippines, they are over 50% and 38% respectively.
In Uganda, remittances are double the country's income from its chief export of coffee.
In India, 2013's remittances of $70bn exceeded the $65bn that nation raked in from software services exports.
In terms of remittances as a share of GDP, Tajikistan topped a list of 10 countries with fund transfers accounting for 52% of the nation's 2013 GDP.
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