By NAN Business Editor
News Americas, Washington, DC, Fri. April 28, 2017: Remittance or money transfers to the Caribbean and Latin America continued to see the most rapid growth rate according to latest figures from 2015 data analyzed by the World Bank. Officially-recorded remittance flows to the Latin America and the Caribbean region increased by 4.8 percent to $66.6 billion in 2015.
The news comes as Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers on April 21st, introduced a bill that would impose a 2 percent fee on all remittances headed to Latin America and the Caribbean. HR 1813, or the Border Wall Funding Act of 2017, is geared to jumpstart the funding of the much touted Donald Trump Border Wall. The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations even as money transfer companies worry about the implications. So which Caribbean nations received the most remittances in 2015? Here are the top 10 according to a News Americas Now analysis:
1: Dominican Republic
Topping the remittance flow to the Caribbean in 2015 is the Dominican Republic which received a whopping USD 5.1 billion in remittances from migrants overseas. Conservative Census data shows there are over 687,000 foreign born nationals from the Dominican Republic in the United States alone.
2: Jamaica
Coming in at number two is Jamaica with USD 2.3 billion remittance inflows in 2015, according to the World Bank estimates. Census estimates claim there are over 700,000 Jamaicans in the US.
3: Haiti
The Caribbean nation of Haiti, which has some 628,000 nationals in the US, received an estimated USD 2.1 billion in remittance in 2015.
4: Guyana
The South American CARICOM nation of Guyana which conservative estimates claim has 273,000 Guyanese living in the U.S., saw remittance inflows of USD 294 million in 2015 alone, the fourth highest for the Caribbean region.
5: Trinidad & Tobago
The oil rich nation of Trinidad & Tobago saw nationals overseas send back an estimated USD 126 million in 2015. There are some 220,000 Trinidadians living in the US, according to rough Census data.
6: Barbados
Barbadians overseas sent back USD 108 million to the Eastern Caribbean island in 2015, according to the World Bank, the sixth largest amount in the entire Caribbean. Some 51,000 Bajans call the US home according to the US Census’ conservative estimates.
7: Belize
The Central American nation of Belize received USD 85 million in remittance inflows in 2015, according to the World Bank estimates, putting it at 7th on our top 10 list. There are an estimated 55,000 nationals from Belize living in the U.S.
8: Sint Maartin
Coming in at 8th on the list is Dutch Sint Maarten, which received 55 million US dollars in remittances in 2015, according to the World Bank.
9: St. Kitts & Nevis
In the ninth spot was St. Kitts & Nevis which received USD 52 million in remittances in 2015, according to the World Bank estimates.
10: Saint Vincent & The Grenadines
Rounding out the top 10 is St. Vincent & The Grenadines, which received USD 32 million in remittance in 2015, according to the World Bank. Nationals from SVG living in the US are put conservatively at 23,000 by the Census.
