The Great Global Redistributor: Money Sent or Brought Back by Migrants

The amount of money sent or brought back by migrants is larger than global foreign aid. But, most foreign aid flows to countries in need, such as low-income and middle-income countries. Is the same thing true for money sent or brought back by migrants?

If migrants were only sending money from Denmark to the Netherlands or from Switzerland to Monaco, the effects on global inequality would be minimal. But that’s not what’s happening.

As this chart illustrates, high-income countries send $680 billion but only receive $195 billion. In other words, people in these countries provide 87% of the funds while receiving just 25%. Economic resources from high-income countries are being redistributed abroad.

The main beneficiaries are middle-income countries. Upper-middle-income countries send 7% but receive 30%, and lower-middle-income countries send only 4% but receive 44%.

This also means that very little money reaches the poorest countries, where people need it the most. Low-income countries receive just 1.7% of all money sent or brought back by migrants, despite being home to 9% of the global population.