Photographs: Reuters
Remittances lead to increased investments in health, education, and small businesses.
At the same time, the loss of skills associated with migration can hamper development and delivery of basic services in sending countries, the study points out.
In 2010, worldwide remittance flows are estimated to have exceeded $440 billion. From that amount, developing countries received $325 billion, which is an increase of 6 per cent from the 2009 level, the World Bank's latest Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011 points out.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: India has second largest number of emigrants.Photographs: Shibin K K.
India (Rank 1)
Remittances: $55 billion
India is the world's largest recipient of remittances. The remittances grew from $49.6 billion in 2009 to $55 billion in 2010. It was also the country with the second largest number of emigrants after Mexico, according to the World Bank.India is ranked 10th in the list of nations attracting the most immigrants. The diaspora of developing countries can be a source of capital, trade, investment, knowledge, and technology transfers, the World Bank reports states.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: A Shanghai Airlines' passenger airliner flies towards Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai.Photographs: Aly Song/Reuters.
China (Rank 2)
Remittances: $51 billion
China, one of the top destination for migrants saw a rise in remittance to $51 billion.
"Remittances in 2008 and 2009 became even more of a lifeline to poor countries, given the massive decline in private capital flows sparked by the crisis," Dilip Ratha, manager of the migration and remittance unit at the World Bank said.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Mexico.Mexico (Rank 3)
Remittances: $22.6 billion
The middle-income countries including China, Russia, Mexico, India, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey receive the lion's share of over $325 billion....
World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Manila.Remittance flows to the Philippines haven risen by 7.8 per cent taking the country among the top 5 nations with highest remittances.
World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Louvre Museum, Paris, France.France (Rank 5)
Remittances: $15.9 billionFrance is among the top 10 destination for migrants. One of the most developed countries, it the fifth largest economy by nominal GDP and seventh largest economy by purchasing power parity.
World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Germany.According to the Factbook 2011, the top migrant destination country is the United States, followed by Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Dhaka.Bangladesh, the eighth most populous country, is ranked 7th among the nations receiving highest remittances.
The country ranks No.1 in terms of emigration.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Brussels.The remittance rose to $10.4 billion from $10.3 billion last year.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Madrid.A developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP, and very high living standards, Spain received remittances to the tune of $10.2 billion in 2010.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Nigeria.Nigeria is the highest recipient of remittances in Africa.
The World Bank report said remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa would reach $21.5 billion this year after a small decrease in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Women at work in Faisalabad.Pakistan received 13.32 per cent higher remittances to $9.4 billion in 2010.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: A general view of St. Mary's Basilica is seen through a sculpture in Krakow, southern Poland.Photographs: Kacper Pempel/Reuters.
Since 2009, Europe and Central Asia's developing region excludes Poland which has been reclassified as a high-income country.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Lebanon.The World Bank estimated the inflow of expatriates' remittances to Lebanon at $8.2 billion in 2010, a rise of 8.2 per cent from $7.6 billion in 2009 and $7.2 billion in 2008 and $5.8 billion in 2007.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: An Egyptian man looks at Abu El-Hagag mosque in Luxor, around 650 km from Cairo.Photographs: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters.
The World Bank also predicted that the total amount of remittance to developing nations will continue to increase in the coming years with a growth of about 6.2 per cent in 2011 and 8.1 per cent in 2012.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: The London Bridge.The world's sixth largest economy by nominal GDP and the sixth largest by purchasing power parity is ranked 16th in terms of remittances.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Vietnam.Overseas remittances to Vietnam, a major source of foreign currency, hit $7.2 billion this year, up 14 per cent from last year's $6.4 billion.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Jakarta.Indonesia (Rank 17)
Remittances: $7.1 billionThe world's fourth most populous nation, Indonesia is ranked at 17th position.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Morocco.Photographs: Reuters
Remittances: $6.4 billion
The top recipients in the African regions include Sudan ($3.2 billion), Kenya ($1.8 billion), Senegal ($1.2 billion), South Africa ($1 billion), Uganda ($0.8 billion), Lesotho ($0.5 billion), Ethiopia ($387 million), Mali ($385 million), and Togo ($302 million).
...World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Moscow.Photographs: Reuters.
Russia (Rank 19)
Remittances: $5.6 billionRussia was a leading remittance sending country in 2009, accounting for $18.6 billion in remittances to other countries.
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World's highest remittances: India is No.1
Image: Serbia.Some developing regions in Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed larger-than-expected falls in remittances in 2009, while flows to South Asia in 2009 grew more than expected.
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