In 2005 migrant workers from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) sent a total of $48.3 billion back to their home countries.  In 2004, remittances represented about 70 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) in LAC and were 500 percent larger than Official Development Assistance to the region.

Despite the importance of remittances for Latin America and the Caribbean, a new World Bank study finds that their impact on the region has in some cases been overestimated.

Read the press release.

Download the full report.

Executive summary in English, Spanish, Portuguese.

Related: Some remittances theory, from our Fridays Academy series.