Remittances from Migrants Make Up 32% of Nepal’s GDP

The United Nations, in its first-ever study of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the 2007-2016 period, highlighted Nepal as the top remittance-dependent nation in the world.

UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report titled, ‘Sending Money Home: Contributing to the SDGs, One Family at a Time’ noted that remittances accounted for 32 percent of Nepal’s GDP during the period. The figure has nearly doubled from the 2007 level, where it was 17 percent.

Reliance on remittances, as measured by percentage of GDP, is highest in Nepal (32 percent), followed by Tajikistan (29 percent) and the Kyrgyz Republic (26 percent),” said the report.

According to the report, Nepal saw an overall remittance growth rate of 262.0 percent receiving a total sum of USD 6,276 million in remittances in the 10-year period.

Referring to preferred destinations, the report noted India as the most preferred destination for Nepali migrants.

Developing Nations Received the Most

According to the report, the amount of money migrants send to their families in developing countries has increased by 51 percent over the past decade, far greater than the 28 percent rise in migration from these countries.

While the report highlighted increase in sending patterns to almost all regions of the world, the sharp rise over the past decade is majorly because of Asia, which has witnessed an 87 percent increase in remittances.

“More than 200 million migrant workers are now supporting an estimated 800 million family members globally. It is projected that in 2017, one-in-seven people in the world will be involved in either sending or receiving more than USD 450 billion in remittances,” said the report.

According to UN, the migrant flows and increase in remittances sent by migrants to their homes will largely impact the global economic and political landscape.