Remitly’s vision is to transform the lives of immigrants and their families by providing the most trusted financial service products on the planet. Our money transfer platform helps India’s overseas community send money to India from Canada, US, Australia, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, and Finland. We recently increased our 24-hour send limit to $30,000 to help our customers get more rupees home when they need to.
“This is a credit to India’s overseas communities around the world. They made the courageous decision to move to another country to live and work, sending their earnings back to loved ones in India. We’re committed to this community and honored to make the experience of sending money across borders easier for the hard-working individuals that contribute so much.” – Matt Oppenheimer, Remitly CEO
Money sent to India from abroad, otherwise known as an international remittance, not only helps those that receive it, but it’s considered a substantial asset to the growth of India’s economy. This helps businesses and commerce thereby providing additional capital from other nations which may not otherwise be available, benefiting India’s economic growth, development, and standard of living.
An overview of India’s international remittance market
India is currently the highest remittance recipient country in the world, with a total of $69 billion received from other countries in 2017 — a 10 percent growth from the previous year, and as much as 12-15 percent of the world’s total remittances.
Remittances sent to India have consistently experienced exponential growth over the past several decades. In 1990, it stood at just over $2 billion — or roughly 0.7 percent of the country’s GDP. By the year 2000, remittances to India reached nearly $13 billion, approximately 2.85 percent of the GDP. By 2010, it grew to over $55 billion and continued steady growth over the following years, with a record of over $70 billion sent in 2013-2014. Following the record year, there was a decline in remittances to the country, with around a 9% decrease in 2016. In 2017, the number jumped back to $69 billion and is expected to grow beyond the previous record of $70 billion in 2018-2019. Remittances to India are currently worth as much as 5 percent of the country’s GDP.
Over the past several years, strong economic performance in the European Union, Russia, and the United States are believed to have contributed greatly to the record-high remittance growth seen in 2017. Remittances in 2018 and beyond are expected to reach new heights due to improving economic conditions in developed countries, as well as rising oil prices, which are a financial boon to West Asia and Middle Eastern nations — a large portion of India’s incoming remittances.
It is estimated that remittances to India come from over 25 million overseas workers, a large percentage of India’s total overseas community of 31 million people who currently reside abroad. As much as 40 percent of India’s total incoming remittances go to the states of Andhra Pradesh (which receives most of its remittances from the United States), Kerala (which receives most of its remittance from the UAE), Punjab (which receives most of its remittance from Canada), Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Below are country-specific statistics from the World Bank showing the top countries who sent remittances to India in 2016:
$15.69 billion — UAE
$11.96 billion — USA
$8.38 billion — Saudi Arabia
$4.27 billion — United Kingdom
$4.08 billion — Bangladesh
$3.46 billion — Canada
$3.22 billion — Nepal
$2.95 billion — Kuwait
$2.61 billion — Oman
$2.29 billion — Qatar
$5.21 billion — all other countries
People in India also sent over $5.6 billion in remittances to other countries in 2016, a figure that is expected to continue rising.
With our new increased 24-hour send limit of $30,000 from the U.S. to India, we can help continue the positive impact remittances have in the country.
