17/05/2021
Remittances to India take a hit as migrant workers return from Gulf amid Covid-19 | Deccan Herald
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With
the return of migrant workers from the Gulf to India due to the spread of the devastating
To Epaper
Covid-19 pandemic that impacted the global economy since the beginning of 2020, the inward
remittances into India remained flat at $83 billion in 2020 (a mere drop of 0.2% over 2019),
according to a World Bank report.
In 2019, the inward remittance into India, the largest recipient country in South Asia, stood at $83
billion. Much of the decline was due to a drop in remittances from the United Arab Emirates. An
estimated 1.2 million migrant workers out of 4 million from Kerala returned from the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in 2020 a er the global pandemic le them jobless, the World
Bank’s Migration and Development Brief reveals. These workers contribute 30 per cent of Kerala’s
income.
The remittances from the United Arab Emirates fell by 17 per cent, which somewhat o set resilient
flows from the United States and other host countries.
Read more: Key RBI steps to ease stress
According to the World Bank, the South Asian region saw a surge of returning migrant workers last
year due to the health and global economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic with lowskilled workers taking the hardest hit.
China, which received $59.5 billion in remittances in 2020 against $68.3 billion in the previous year,
stood behind India in terms of global remittances for 2020, the World Bank said.
In Pakistan, remittances rose by over 17 per cent to a record high of $26.1 billion; remittances from
Saudi Arabia increased by over 46 per cent, from European Union countries by 25 per cent, and
from the United Arab Emirates by 19 per cent.
Also read: Millions plunge into poverty in Covid-ravaged India
Remittances trends
Inward remittance flows to South Asia rose by about 5 per cent in 2020, driven by a surge in flows
to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bhutan and Sri Lanka also posted strong gains last year, while India
and Nepal experienced a small drop in remittances.
For 2021, it is projected that remittances to the region will slow slightly to 3.5 per cent due to a
moderation of growth in high-income economies and a further expected drop in migration to the
GCC countries, the World Bank report said.
Defying projections of a severe contraction o icially recorded remittance flows to low- and middleincome countries (LMICs) reached $540 billion in 2020, just 1.6 per cent below the 2019 total of
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