Barbadians overseas sent an estimated BDS$170 million back home last year, the same amount they have remitted annually from 2017.
This is according to the latest Migration and Development Brief published by the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, which shows that overall remittances to the island have been $680 million since 2020.
The report said the $170 million represented about 1.4 per cent of Barbados’ gross domestic product in 2023.
World Bank estimates of these personal remittances “comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees”, the international financial institution said. This included “all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from non-resident households”.
Compensation of employees refers to the income of border, seasonal and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident, and of residents employed by non-resident entities.
While the money remitted to Barbados did not increase in 2023, the World Bank said remittance flows into Latin America and the Caribbean increased by an estimated eight per cent in 2023, reaching $312 billion.
In terms of other Caribbean countries, last year’s estimated remittances were (in Barbados dollars): Antigua and Barbuda, $98 million; The Bahamas, $110 million; Belize, $302 million; Dominica, $$118 million; Guyana, $1.09 billion; Haiti, $8.5 billion; Jamaica, $7.4 billion; St Kitts and Nevis, $76 million; St Lucia, $126 million; St Vincent and the Grenadines, $142 million, and Trinidad and Tobago, $354 million.
The World Bank explained that improvement in the United States labour market was having a positive impact on remittance flows to the region.
“An improving labour situation for the foreign-born population and Hispanics in the United States bodes well for immediate prospects for remittances to the region. Employment in the construction sector, where a large share of migrants work, continued to rise over the past 12 months, providing a significant impetus to remittances,” the report noted.
The publication also said there was a slight increase in the cost of remitting money back to the region, with Latin America and the Caribbean having “the third-most-expensive average remittance costs among low- and middle-income regions, after Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe and Central Asia”.
The World Bank said that with the US labour market expected to remain strong this year, remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are unlikely to be negatively impacted in a major way.
“Uncertainty related to the Russia-Ukraine war and the conflict in the Middle East, inflationary pressures and a potential slowdown in global growth represent significant downside risks to the forecast for growth in remittances,” it added. (SC)
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