By: E. Williams
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 3rd 2017 – The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis received over US$50 million (EC$135 million) in remittances from the United States in 2016 and over EC$1.4 billion in the past 10 years.
According to World Bank estimates, St. Kitts and Nevis received US$52 million (EC$140.4 million) in remittances and sent out US$7 million (EC$18.9 million) in 2016. While the number of nationals in the United States is listed for the other nations, none is stated for St. Kitts and Nevis.
World Bank statistics indicate that between 2006 and 2016, St. Kitts and Nevis received US$551 million (EC$1,487.7 million) in remittances and sent out US$48 million (EC$129.6 million) during the period 2006 to 2013.
News America Now lists St. Kitts and Nevis as number 9 among the top 10 nations in the English, Spanish and Dutch-speaking nations that receive remittances from the United States..
Those nations are headed by the Dominican Republic which received a whopping US$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.
Second is Jamaica with US$2.3 billion remittance inflows in 2015. Census estimates claim there are over 700,000 Jamaicans in the US.
Third is Haiti which has some 628,000 nationals in the US and received an estimated US$2.1 billion in remittance in 2015.
Coming in at number 4 is theSouth American CARICOM nation of Guyana which conservative estimates claim has 273,000 Guyanese living in the U.S and which saw remittance inflows of US$294 million in 2015 alone, the fourth highest for the Caribbean region.
The oil rich nation of Trinidad & Tobago saw nationals overseas send back an estimated US$126 million in 2015. There are some 220,000 Trinidadians living in the US, according to rough Census data.
Barbadians overseas sent back US$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.
The Central American nation of Belize received US$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.
Coming in at 8th on the list is Dutch Sint Maarten, which received US$55 million in remittances in 2015, according to the World Bank.
Rounding out the top 10 is St. Vincent & The Grenadines, which received US$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.
The World Bank reported that Latin America and the Caribbean was the only region to see growth in remittances in 2016, estimated at $73 billion, an increase of 6.9 percent over 2015, as remittance senders took advantage of the strong U.S. labour market and beneficial exchange rates. Robust remittance growth was estimated for Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. In 2017, remittances to the region are projected to grow by 3.3 percent to $75 billion.
*This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKN PULSE. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical errors within press releases and (or) commentaries. The views contained within are not necessarily those of SKN PULSE.
