Bangladesh has emerged as the eight largest remittance earner, riding on the back of migration in flocks to the Middle East, according to a global survey by the World Bank.
Migrant deployments from Bangladesh grew strongly this year, the global lender said in its report after conducting the survey last week.
Migration in large numbers to the Middle East in the recent years has placed Bangladesh on a firm footing in remittance earning, observers told The Daily Star.
The WB Migration and Remittance Unit prepared an estimate for the whole year on the basis of information available until September.
Bangladesh’s inward remittance stood at $11.99 billion. India came in first with revenue earnings worth $57.82 billion and China stood second at $57.28 billion.
Among the developing countries, Bangladesh holds the fifth position.
Migration from Bangladesh for jobs increased rapidly since 2007, and it is the main contributor to the country’s high remittance earning, said Zahid Hussain, a WB senior economist.
Before 2007, around two to four lakh Bangladeshis migrated abroad. In 2008 the figure rose to nine lakh in a single year.
Citing one of his studies, Hussain said remittance increases mainly due to two factors — an increase in net migration and an increase in the per head remittance of the expatriate worker.
Hussain said remittance increased 32.5 percent in 2008 — 22 percent of which took place due to net migration. Remittance earning per worker increased by 10 percent, he added. “The trend still continues.”
According to statistics from the expatriate welfare and overseas employment ministry, minimum annual migration stood at 4.75 lakh from 2007 to 2010, while the maximum was 8.75 lakh. However, in 2010, it slumped to an extent and stood at 3.9 lakh.
According to statistics from the first ten months of this year, 4.59 lakh Bangladeshis migrated. Ministry officials said it will cross 5 lakh by the end of the year.
In developing countries, including Bangladesh, migration to the Middle East became more lucrative since the oil price hikes as the nations took on more development projects, hence generating demand for more workers.
High oil prices, hovering over $100 a barrel in recent months, continue to provide a much-needed cushion for migrant workers in Gulf countries and Russia, the WB report added.
Remittance from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries to Bangladesh and Pakistan — where the GCC accounts for 60 percent or more of overall remittance inflow — grew by 8 percent and 31 percent respectively in the first three quarters of 2011 on a year-on-year basis, the lender said.
However, the WB said there are risks associated with the ongoing debt crisis in Europe and high unemployment rates in the high-income OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries for the employment prospects of migrants.
Hussain said Bangladesh may escape the impacts of a second recession as most migrants go to the Middle East. Even if oil prices drop, the ongoing rate of development in those countries will require a large number of workers.
The economist said Qatar is building high tech stadiums, as the country will host the World Football Cup matches in 2022. The Middle Eastern nation will also hire workers from developing countries such as Bangladesh, he said.
Oil prices may slump due to the financial crisis in the US and Europe. But the prices may go up if demand increases in China and India, he said. In that case, the Gulf economies will witness no slow-down, he added.
-With The Daily Star input
