India to see highest foreign remittances in 2011: World Bank

Developing countries are expected to receive a total of $351 billion in foreign remittances in 2011, led by India ($58 billion), China ($57 billion), Mexico ($24 billion) and the Philippines ($23 billion), the World Bank has said in a report.

In all, worldwide remittances -- including those to high-income countries -- will reach $406 billion in the current calendar year, according to a newly updated World Bank brief on global migration and remittances.

Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, Egypt and Lebanon, the report said.

The World Bank said though the economic slowdown is dampening employment prospects for migrant workers in some high-income countries, global remittances are expected to stay on a growth path and are forecast to reach $515 billion by 2014.

Of this amount, $441 billion will flow to developing countries, according to the latest issue of the World Bank's Migration and Development Brief, released on Wednesday at the fifth meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva.

"Despite the global economic crisis that has impacted private capital flows, remittance flows to developing countries have remained resilient, posting an estimated growth of 8 per cent in 2011," said Hans Timmer, the Director of the bank's Development Prospects Group.

"Remittance flows to all developing regions have grown this year, for the first time since the financial crisis," he said.