The report said the figure is by far the largest volume of remittances to any country in Africa and the sixth largest in the world.
“The United States is the biggest remittance sending country to Nigeria, followed by the United Kingdom. Nigerians received $5.7 billion in remittances sent from friends and family members in the US and $3.7 billion from the UK in 2015. Nigeria is also the third largest destination country for migrants from other African nations,” it said.
It said a quarter of a billion people around the world are migrants, and over $600 billion in remittances are sent annually.
The global lender said international remittances to developing countries reached over $441 billion in 2015, more than Foreign Direct Investment and trice more than official aid flows, adding that 34 per cent of all international remittances are sent between developing countries.
It disclosed that remittances constitute more than 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product for 25 countries, pointing out that international remittances have been growing steadily and remain stable even during episodes of financial volatility.
“In 2015, the number of international migrants surpassed 250 million, a quarter of a billion people, globally. International migrants now represent more than 3.4 per cent of the world’s population. South-South migration is now larger than South-North migration. Over 38 per cent of international migrants have migrated from developing countries to other developing countries. 14.4 per cent of international migrants are refugees,” it said.
