Remittances to India dropped 9% in 2016, says World Bank

India retained the top spot among remittance-receiving nations, even after suffering a significant 8.9 per cent drop in 2016, says a World Bank report.

The World Bank said the remittances to developing countries fell for a consecutive year in 2016, a trend not seen in three decades.

This was attributable mainly to the drop in crude oil prices and fiscal tightening in the oil producing countries in West Asia, which had a significant Indian migrant population accounting for a large chunk of remittances. India, while retaining its spot as the world's largest remittance recipient, led the decline with remittance inflow amounting to $62.7 billion last year, a decrease from $68.9 billion in 2015. In the latest edition of the Migration

and Development Brief, the Bank estimates officially recorded remittances to developing countries amounted to $429 billion in 2016, a decline of 2.4 per cent over $440 billion in 2015.

Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, contracted by 1.2 per cent to $575 billion in 2016, from $582 billion in 2015. Low oil prices and weak growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the Russian Federation are taking a toll on remittance flows to South Asia and Central Asia, while weak growth in Europe has reduced flows to North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The decline in remittances, when valued, was made worse by a weaker euro, pound and ruble against the dollar.

As a result, many large remittance-receiving countries saw sharp declines in remittance flows. India was the largest remittance recipient, followed closely by China ($61 billion), the Philippines ($29.9 billion), Mexico ($28.5 billion) and Pakistan ($19.8 billion), making the top five.