World's highest remittances: India is No.1

With a rising population of more than 215 million (21.5 crore) international migrants in the world, remittances received by developing countries alone are estimated to be to the tune of $325 billion in 2010, states a World Bank study.

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.

Click NEXT to read find out which countries receive the highest remittances...

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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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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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.

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Philippines (Rank 4)

Remittances: $21.3 billion

Remittance flows to the Philippines haven risen by 7.8 per cent taking the country among the top 5 nations with highest remittances.

France (Rank 5)

Remittances: $15.9 billion

France 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.

Germany (Rank 6)

Remittances: $11.6 billion

The most populous state in Europe has the world's the third-largest number of international migrants.

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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Bangladesh (Rank 7)

Remittances: $11.1 billion

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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Belgium (Rank 8)

Remittances: $10.4 billion

Belgium with a population of 10.8 millions has 455,000 emigrants.

The remittance rose to $10.4 billion from $10.3 billion last year.

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Spain (Rank 9)

Remittances: $10.2 billion

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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Nigeria (Rank 10)

Remittances: $10.0 billion

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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Pakistan (Rank 11)

Remittances: $9.4 billion

Pakistan received 13.32 per cent higher remittances to $9.4 billion in 2010.

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Poland (Rank 12)

Remittances: $9.1 billion

Since 2009, Europe and Central Asia's developing region excludes Poland which has been reclassified as a high-income country.

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Lebanon (Rank 13)

Remittances: $8.2 billion

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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Egypt (Rank 14)

Remittances: $7.7 billion

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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United Kingdom (Rank 15)

Remittances: $7.4 billion

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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Vietnam (Rank 16)

Remittances: $7.2 billion

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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Indonesia (Rank 17)

Remittances: $7.1 billion

The world's fourth most populous nation, Indonesia is ranked at 17th position.

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Morocco (Rank 18)

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).

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Russia (Rank 19)

Remittances: $5.6 billion

Russia was a leading remittance sending country in 2009, accounting for $18.6 billion in remittances to other countries.

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Serbia (Rank 20)

Remittances: $5.6 billion

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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