PARIS — Remittances from migrant workers are now almost double official development assistance, the Global Development Finance (GDF) 2005 report of the World Bank says.

Migrants from Africa, Latin America and Asia working in the industrialised world sent home 126 billion U.S. dollars in 2004, says the report released Apr. 6.

Official development assistance (ODA) last year added up to about 72 billion dollars. These remittances have become the second most important source of money for developing countries after foreign direct investment (FDI), the report says.

Migrant workers are now central to economic growth in the industrialised world, and also to financing development in their poorer countries of origin.

This is particularly true for Latin America and the Caribbean. According to a report for 2004 by the Inter American Development Bank (IADB), countries in this region received 45 billion dollars from workers in North America, Europe, Asia (especially Japan) and Australia.

The remittances exceeded the combined flow of all FDI and net ODA to the region, and made Latin America and the Caribbean "the largest remittance market in the world," says the IADB report 'Remittances 2004, transforming labour markets and promoting financial democracy'.

Unlike foreign aid, migrant remittances go directly to families in places that are often difficult to reach with development assistance. And while international capital flows have fluctuated with market cycles, remittances have increased even during economic recession.

As the IADB puts it, developed countries need migrant labour, and families back home need the remittances that come from their earnings. It says the number of economic migrants (approximately 175 million) would constitute the sixth most populous country in the world.

People move North by the millions, and money moves South by the billions, the IADB report says.