Chart: Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean
Chart: Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean
Mexico receives the most remittances in the region, while Nicaragua has the highest value of these as a percentage of its GDP.
In 2024, Latin America and the Caribbean received $161 billion in remittances, non-commercial transfers of money sent by migrants to their home countries, according to a report published by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Most of these remittances were sent from the United States, the top remittance-sending country globally.
A proposed budget bill in the U.S. Congress would impose a 3.5 percent tax on remittances sent abroad, mainly those sent by non-U.S. citizens or nationals. In our latest episode of Latin America in Focus, Carin Zissis, interim director of COA’s Washington Office and AS/COA Online’s editor-in-chief, speaks with René Maldonado, co-author of the IDB report, on how this potential tax could impact remittances going to Latin America and the Caribbean.
As a supplement, AS/COA Online breaks down data from the report, highlighting which Latin American countries receive the most remittances, how it factors into GDP, and the annual growth of remittances in the region.
Will a new levy slow the flow of funds to Latin America? CEMLA’s René Maldonado covers shifting remittance trends in the region.
