Each year over 200 million migrant workers send money to over 800 million family members in low- and middle-income countries. These financial transfers can make a significant contribution to development, being a lifeline to the developing world. They help individual families to get by, enable people to start small and medium businesses and provide much needed capital for national economies.

Behavioural shifts among migrants and the diaspora — such as sending savings and using mobile transfers — have further bolstered remittances. The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed the use of formal remittances, with mobile remittances alone increasing by 48 per cent in 2021. Digitalization is less costly than cash transfers and has advanced the financial inclusion of migrants and their families.

This year’s observance theme focuses on the benefits that digital and financial inclusion bring when linked to remittances in helping remittance families achieve their own SDGs.

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