UNECE/Eurostat Work Session on Migration Statistics

1
UNECE/Eurostat Work Session on Migration
Statistics

• Remittance Flows
• Concepts and measurement issues
• Mushtaq Hussain
• Eurostat,
• Balance of Payments Unit

2
Content

• Introduction
• New concepts and definitions
• Compilation Guidance
• Data availability

3
Growing importance of remittances

• Remittance flows - a major source of external
  financing in developing countries.
• Officially recorded flows
• 2004 160 billion 2005 167 billion
• (workers remittances, compensation of employees,
  migrant transfers)
• True size of remittance flows much higher
• Greater attention from policymakers at the
  highest levels in both developed and developing
  countries.

4
Workers remittances to developing countries (
bill.)
5
Workers remittances to developing countries (
bill.)
6
Capital flows to developing countries ( bill.)
7
Top 20 remittance receivers, 2004 ( bill)
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Initiatives to improve data quality

• Weaknesses in official data on remittances
• unclear concepts
• inconsistent methodology
• available data incomplete and not comparable
• Initiatives taken by G8 Heads of State in 2004
• International statistical working group
• clarify the concepts and definitions concerning
  remittances and
• provide better guidance on data collection

9
Clarifying concepts

• Current definition
•  Workers remittances covers current transfers
  by migrants who are employed in new economies and
  considered residents there. 
• New definitions
• UN Technical Sub-group on Movement of Natural
  Persons
• Within the balance of payments framework
• Broader concepts
• Alignment with SNA 1993

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New Definitions
Personal transfers Consists of all current
transfers from resident households to
non-resident households.  (Part of BOP standard
presentation) Personal remittances Personal
transfers net compensation of employees
capital transfers between households (supplem
entary item in BPM6)
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New Definitions (cont.)
Total remittances Personal remittances
social benefits (supplementary item in
BPM6) Total remittances and transfers to NPISHs
Total remittances current transfers
to NPISHs capital transfers to
NPISHs (supplementary item in BPM6)
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Guidance for data collection

• Expertise resides within countries
• Creation of a city group 
• Luxembourg Group on Remittances
• 16 countries and 5 international organisations
• Gather materials and good practices
• Strengths and weaknesses of the approaches
• Draft a compilation guide
• First meeting 26-27 June 2006

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Luxembourg Group on Remittances

• Use of different data sources
• International transactions reporting systems
• Household surveys
• Data models
• Administrative and other sources
• Combination of sources of information
• The way forward
• Focus on generic description of data collection
• Advantages and drawbacks of collection systems
• Best way of combining different sources
• Offering countries a choice of methods
• Drafting of a compilation guide

14
Data availability at EU level

• DG ECFIN
• Surveys conducted in April 2004 and May 2005
• Problems of underreporting and misreporting
• no conclusive evidence on the current volumes
• Eurostat
• Data on remittances, compensation of employees
  and private transfers
• Current situation does not allow to calculate EU
  aggregates
• Special survey beginning of 2007 total
  remittance flows identify and quantify major
  corridors.

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Thank you for your attention