Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean will reach 161 billion dollars in 2024 according to projections based on statistics from the region's central banks. This is the 14th year of uninterrupted growth. Although the analysis by country shows more variation, remittances to the region have grown every year of this century with the sole exception during the global financial crisis of 2009. Mexico remains the main recipient in the region, with 40.5% of the total. Central America received 28.4% of regional remittances, South America received 19.7% and the Caribbean countries 11.4%.
Higher economic growth in major recipient countries, combined with lower human mobility in 2023, resulted in remittance growth in 2024 of 5% – the slowest in the last ten years. Remittances to Mexico increased 2.9%, to Central America 6.6% and to the Caribbean 2.0%. Remittances sent to South America grew 9.1% due to the devaluation of several currencies and more limited economic growth that sustained the need for support from family members abroad.
Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are equivalent, on average, to only 2.3% of regional GDP in 2024, a reduction compared to 2023 due to high growth in the economies of several receiving countries. For many of the countries in the region, however, the share is higher. In Central America and the Caribbean, the averages are 11.8% and 9.2%, respectively, reaching 25.9% in Honduras and 16.8% in Jamaica. In Mexico, despite being the principal recipient country, remittances are equivalent to only 3.2% of GDP, and for South America it is only 0.7%.
Flows of remittances will be affected by the economic conditions in the countries that host the diaspora from each country. Although many countries do not publish remittances statistics by country of origin, estimates are presented below of the distribution of origins for each country based on statistics from 2022. In most countries, especially Mexico and Central America, high percentages of remittances come from the United States, while there are more significant percentages originating from Europe, especially in South America.
For a detailed analysis of remittances flows to the region in 2023
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