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BANKING |
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REMITTANCES
The flow of money from immigrants to their families back home usually takes the form of money transfers, commonly referred to as remittances. They include money orders, hand delivered cash, wire transfers and unlicensed informal means. An Inter-American Development Bank poll of Latin Americans living in the U.S. found that 50 percent of the respondents were sending money on a regular basis to their families in 2008, down from 73 percent in a similar poll conducted in 2006. The dollar value of remittances to the region rose slightly from $45.4 billion to $45.9 billion during the same period.
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REMITTANCES TO LATIN AMERICA, 2006-2007
($ millions)
Country |
2006 |
2007 |
Percent change |
| Mexico | $23,053 | $23,979 | 4.0% |
| Brazil | 7,373 | 7,075 | -4.0 |
| Colombia | 4,200 | 4,520 | 7.6 |
| Guatemala | 3,610 | 4,128 | 14.3 |
| El Salvador | 3,316 | 3,695 | 11.4 |
| Dominican Republic | 2,900 | 3,120 | 7.6 |
| Ecuador | 2,900 | 3,085 | 6.4 |
| Peru | 2,869 | 2,900 | 1.1 |
| Honduras | 2,359 | 2,561 | 8.6 |
| Jamaica | 1,770 | 1,975 | 11.6 |
| Other | 7,950 | 8,444 | 6.2 |
| Total | $62,300 | $65,482 | 5.1% |
| Source: Inter-American Development Bank/MIF. |
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TOP TEN STATES BY REMITTANCES TO LATIN AMERICA, 2006-2008
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Total amount ($ millions) |
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Rank |
State |
2006 |
2008 |
Percent increase from 2006 |
Percent that send money regularly |
| 1 | California | $13,191 | $14,599 | 10.7% | 52% |
| 2 | Texas | 5,222 | 4,299 | -17.7 | 30 |
| 3 | New York | 3,714 | 3,933 | 5.9 | 53 |
| 4 | Florida | 3,083 | 3,071 | -0.4 | 48 |
| 5 | Illinois | 2,583 | 2,813 | 8.9 | 58 |
| 6 | New Jersey | 1,869 | 1,943 | 4.0 | 56 |
| 7 | Georgia | 1,736 | 1,443 | -16.9 | 53 |
| 8 | Arizona | 1,378 | 1,357 | -1.5 | 39 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1,221 | 1,243 | 1.8 | 59 |
| 10 | Virginia | 1,110 | 1,023 | -7.8 | 59 |
| | Total 50 states | $45,276 | $45,932 | 1.4% | 50.0% |
| Source: Inter-American Development Bank/MIF. |
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