Download or read book The Increasing Importance of Migrant Remittances from the Russian Federation to Central Asia written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The flow of funds from migrant workers back to their home countries is an important and fairly stable source of external financing which in many developing economies exceeds official development assistance, portfolio investments, and foreign direct investment. The total value of remittances worldwide has been increasing steadily over the past decades and it is estimated that in 2011 and 2012 reached over US$500 billion and US$550 billion equivalent, respectively. Remittances involve 215 million migrants, or 3 percent of the world’s population, with around half of the official international migration being South-South rather than to wealthier countries in the North. Out of the total estimated worldwide value of remittances about three quarters goes to developing countries