Immigrants sent $300 billion home in 2006: study

By Adriana Garcia

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - About 150 million immigrant workers around the globe sent home more than $300 billion to their families in developing countries in 2006, a new study said on Wednesday.

This amount was higher than donations in aid made from rich nations to developed countries last year, which totaled $104 billion, according to an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report released in Washington.

"This figure, which is a conservative estimate, shows that the seemingly small sums sent home by migrant workers, when added together, dwarf official development assistance," said Kevin Cleaver, assistant president from IFAD, a specialized United Nations agency, in a statement.

Asia was the top destination of these money transfers, receiving more than $114 billion, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, with $68 billion, and Eastern Europe, with $51 billion, the study said.

Africa received $39 billion and the Near East $29 billion.

Remittances are generated by immigrants who send money home regularly, between $100 and $300 at a time, and mostly from industrialized nations in North America, Europe and Asia.

One third of these remittances go to families in rural areas, where poverty tends to be worse than in cities.

Individually, India was the top receiver of remittances in 2006, with $24.5 billion, followed by Mexico, with $24.2 billion, and China, with $21 billion, the study said.