Kyeyo payments hit record in 2017, Uganda at $1.3 billion

Remittance payments hit record in 2017, Uganda at $1.3 billion 

April 24, 2018 - A World Bank report released in April shows that payments from immigrants back to their home countries rebounded to reach a new record in 2017 despite an increase in costs of transferring funds.

Uganda's remittance inflows improved from $1.1 billion  to $1.3 billion, with Kenya top in the region at $2 billion. Tanzania are at $400m and Rwanda $181m.

Communities in the US, Canada and the UK have previously been the source of most remittances, but in the last decade many Ugandans have also headed to the Middle East and it is bringing in significant numbers. 

Remittance inflows improved in all regions, with the top remittance recipients being India with $69 billion, followed by China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($33 billion), Mexico ($31 billion), Nigeria ($22 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).

Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa accelerated 11.4 percent to $38 billion in 2017, supported by improving economic growth in advanced economies and higher oil prices benefiting regional economies. 

The largest remittance recipients were Nigeria ($21.9 billion), Senegal ($2.2 billion), and Ghana ($2.2 billion). 

The region is host to several countries where remittances are a significant share of gross domestic product, including Liberia (27 percent), The Gambia (21 percent), and Comoros (21 percent). In 2018, remittances to the region are expected to grow 7 percent to $41 billion.

AFP reported the bank saying that the stronger-than-expected recovery in remittances -- payments that are key to supporting the economies of many poor countries -- was driven by growth in Europe, Russia and the United States.

"The global average cost of sending $200 was 7.1 percent in the first quarter of 2018, and sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive place to send money to, where the average cost is 9.4 percent," AFP reported.

"The World Bank Group is mobilizing financial resources and knowledge on migration to support migrants and countries with the aim of reducing poverty and sharing prosperity. Our focus is on addressing the fundamental drivers of migration and supporting the migration-related Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact on Migration,” said Michal Rutkowski, Senior Director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.

(Source: World Bank staff calculation based on data from IMF Balance of Payments Statistics database and data releases from central banks, national statistical agencies, and World Bank country desks.)

Migrant remittance inflows (US$ million)	2014	2015	2016	2017
Afghanistan	268	301	387	410
Albania	1,421	1,291	1,306	1,382
Algeria	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,093
American Samoa	..	..	..	..
Andorra	..	..	..	..
Angola	31	11	4	4
Antigua and Barbuda	29	29	29	31
Argentina	505	494	539	688
Armenia	2,079	1,491	1,382	1,539
Aruba	7	8	7	8
Australia	2,258	2,141	2,051	1,941
Austria	3,239	2,843	2,909	2,934
Azerbaijan	1,846	1,270	643	1,050
Bahamas	..	..	..	..
Bahrain	..	..	..	..
Bangladesh	14,988	15,296	13,544	13,469
Barbados	108	108	108	112
Belarus	1,231	932	961	1,200
Belgium	11,427	9,873	10,126	10,273
Belize	80	85	97	89
Benin	304	214	222	266
Bermuda	1,336	1,445	1,430	1,478
Bhutan	14	20	34	40
Bolivia	1,177	1,191	1,217	1,341
Bosnia & Herzegovina	2,107	1,801	1,846	2,010
Botswana	46	30	25	20
Brazil	2,648	2,897	2,740	2,699
Brunei Darussalam	..	..	..	-
Bulgaria	1,685	1,495	1,666	2,224
Burkina Faso	396	385	397	444
Burundi	56	51	31	34
Cabo Verde	197	201	212	222
Cambodia	377	400	371	386
Cameroon	283	242	269	278
Canada	1,350	1,274	1,290	1,340
Cayman Islands	..	..	..	..
Central African Republic	..	..	..	..
Chad	..	..	..	..
Channel Islands	..	..	..	..
Chile	106	104	104	104
China	62,332	63,938	61,000	63,860
Colombia	4,166	4,680	4,903	5,636
Comoros	126	129	131	138
Congo, Dem. Rep.	22	142	16	17
Congo, Rep.	..	..	..	..
Costa Rica	594	552	545	562
Cote d'Ivoire	387	336	336	379
Croatia	2,149	2,104	2,190	2,307
Cuba	..	..	..	..
Curacao	143	142	148	160
Cyprus	267	254	327	335
Czech Republic	2,628	2,675	3,126	3,658
Denmark	1,483	1,258	1,252	1,344
Djibouti	36	63	58	62
Dominica	50	56	57	59
Dominican Republic	4,810	5,196	5,509	6,191
Ecuador	2,472	2,388	2,612	2,848
Egypt, Arab Rep.	19,570	18,325	16,590	19,983
El Salvador	4,154	4,288	4,594	5,051
Equatorial Guinea	..	..	..	..
Eritrea	..	..	..	..
Estonia	544	456	479	559
Ethiopia	1,796	1,087	772	816
Faeroe Islands	158	158	158	168
Fiji	221	251	80	86
Finland	907	806	804	821
France	25,351	23,766	24,373	25,372
French Polynesia	660	564	564	589
Gabon	..	..	..	..
Gambia, The	138	136	207	216
Georgia	1,986	1,459	1,521	1,794
Germany	17,365	16,133	16,683	16,833
Ghana	2,008	2,100	2,100	2,190
Greece	735	429	331	319
Greenland	..	..	..	..
Grenada	41	43	1	1
Guam	..	..	..	..
Guatemala	5,838	6,573	7,471	8,540
Guinea	121	131	52	55
Guinea-Bissau	92	85	85	104
Guyana	330	294	265	275
Haiti	1,977	2,196	2,359	2,459
Honduras	3,370	3,666	3,864	4,322
Hong Kong SAR, China	372	387	399	430
Hungary	4,768	4,459	4,660	4,692
Iceland	212	209	201	172
India	70,389	68,910	62,744	68,968
Indonesia	8,551	9,659	8,891	8,997
Iran, Islamic Rep.	1,330	1,330	1,330	1,379
Iraq	729	1,004	986	1,035
Ireland	719	603	594	608
Isle of Man	..	..	..	..
Israel	859	853	963	990
Italy	10,087	9,517	9,537	9,287
Jamaica	2,269	2,361	2,433	2,522
Japan	3,734	3,325	3,819	4,578
Jordan	6,370	5,348	4,375	4,418
Kazakhstan	229	194	275	355
Kenya	1,441	1,569	1,745	1,970
Kiribati	17	16	17	18
Korea, Dem. Rep.	..	..	..	..
Korea, Rep.	6,551	6,444	6,504	6,332
Kosovo	1,099	971	986	1,115
Kuwait	4	34	4	4
Kyrgyz Republic	2,243	1,688	1,995	2,486
Lao PDR	40	93	116	124
Latvia	1,543	1,327	1,226	1,090
Lebanon	7,191	7,481	7,606	7,955
Lesotho	393	371	344	415
Liberia	506	641	549	580
Libya	..	..	..	..
Liechtenstein	..	..	..	..
Lithuania	2,113	1,372	1,280	1,302
Luxembourg	1,862	1,632	1,717	1,746
Macao SAR, China	37	40	28	29
Macedonia, FYR	367	307	291	314
Madagascar	286	272	250	262
Malawi	38	41	34	38
Malaysia	1,580	1,644	1,585	1,634
Maldives	3	4	4	4
Mali	920	920	920	1,040
Malta	253	226	221	215
Marshall Islands	26	27	28	29
Mauritania	..	..	..	..
Mauritius	249	249	249	262
Mexico	24,802	26,233	28,691	30,600
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	23	23	23	24
Moldova	2,076	1,540	1,464	1,640
Monaco	..	..	..	..
Mongolia	255	261	260	269
Montenegro	431	381	396	426
Morocco	7,736	6,904	7,088	7,467
Mozambique	155	143	93	51
Myanmar	279	387	682	723
Namibia	81	47	66	43
Nepal	5,889	6,730	6,612	6,947
Netherlands	1,482	1,312	1,335	1,406
New Caledonia	721	613	613	642
New Zealand	305	285	274	297
Nicaragua	1,140	1,198	1,268	1,395
Niger	219	172	172	198
Nigeria	20,829	21,060	19,636	21,967
Northern M Islands	..	..	..	..
Norway	760	609	594	614
Oman	39	39	39	40
Pakistan	17,244	19,306	19,761	19,665
Palau	2	2	2	2
Panama	756	554	502	533
Papua New Guinea	10	10	3	3
Paraguay	507	554	657	732
Peru	2,637	2,725	2,884	3,039
Philippines	28,691	29,799	31,145	32,808
Poland	7,409	6,783	6,712	6,805
Portugal	4,446	4,363	4,378	4,811
Puerto Rico	..	..	..	..
Qatar	499	437	379	668
Romania	3,381	3,085	3,489	4,944
Russian Federation	7,777	6,903	6,678	8,026
Rwanda	184	159	173	181
Samoa	158	144	136	143
San Marino	..	..	..	..
Sao Tome and Principe	27	20	18	19
Saudi Arabia	273	295	308	287
Senegal	1,929	1,929	1,929	2,238
Serbia	3,696	3,371	3,205	3,588
Seychelles	15	18	22	24
Sierra Leone	62	48	47	49
Singapore	..	..	..	..
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	62	55	61	64
Slovak Republic	2,395	2,138	2,119	2,100
Slovenia	369	423	364	406
Solomon Islands	16	19	20	20
Somalia	..	..	..	..
South Africa	913	825	755	898
South Sudan	..	..	..	..
Spain	10,720	10,281	10,281	10,692
Sri Lanka	7,036	7,000	7,257	7,190
St. Kitts and Nevis	20	20	10	11
St. Lucia	32	32	32	32
St. Martin (French part)	..	..	..	..
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	44	42	42	42
Sudan	507	151	153	177
Suriname	9	7	7	7
Swaziland	96	96	98	114
Sweden	4,558	3,364	2,855	2,819
Switzerland	2,406	2,517	2,497	2,488
Syrian Arab Republic	1,623	1,623	1,623	1,623
Tajikistan	3,384	2,259	1,867	2,220
Tanzania	389	388	411	435
Thailand	6,524	5,895	6,270	6,729
Timor-Leste	44	62	80	85
Togo	427	364	364	402
Tonga	129	138	138	146
Trinidad and Tobago	136	153	144	150
Tunisia	2,347	1,971	1,821	1,903
Turkey	1,739	1,395	1,186	1,045
Turkmenistan	30	16	9	10
Turks and Caicos Islands	..	..	..	..
Tuvalu	4	4	4	4
Uganda	888	902	1,146	1,375
Ukraine	7,354	5,845	6,146	7,895
United Arab Emirates	..	..	..	..
United Kingdom	4,936	5,003	4,582	4,374
United States	6,503	6,562	6,547	6,621
Uruguay	92	85	85	100
Uzbekistan	5,828	3,062	2,479	2,839
Vanuatu	28	24	19	19
Venezuela, RB	128	161	279	293
Vietnam	12,000	13,200	11,880	13,781
Virgin Islands (U.S.)	..	..	..	..
West Bank and Gaza	1,805	1,826	1,957	2,034
Yemen, Rep.	3,351	3,351	3,351	3,351
Zambia	58	47	38	42
Zimbabwe	..	..	..	..
World	597,859	582,053	573,131	613,466