Remittances to India to Drop by 9% in 2020 in Wake of Pandemic, Recession: World Bank Report

Remittance flows to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by 7 per cent to $508 billion in 2020, followed by a further decline of 7.5 per cent to $470 billion in 2021. The foremost factors driving the decline in remittances include weak economic growth and employment levels in migrant-hosting countries, weak oil prices, and depreciation of the currencies of remittance-source countries against the US dollar, the bank said.

The declines in 2020 and 2021 will affect all regions, with the steepest drop expected in Europe and Central Asia (by 16 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively), followed by East Asia and the Pacific (11 per cent and 4 per cent), the Middle East and North Africa ( both 8 per cent), Sub-Saharan Africa (9 per cent and 6 per cent), South Asia (4 per cent and 11 per cent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (0.2 per cent and 8 per cent), the report said. Remittances to South Asia are projected to decline by around four per cent in 2020 to $1 35 billion.