Columbia University and the Multilateral Investment Fund of the InterAmerican Development Bank have just released two studies on remittances. Their research is based on 3,000 door-to-door interviews conducted in the Dominican Republic and 800 telephone interviews of Dominican households in the US. These consultations were made in October 2004 by Bendixen & Associates. Titled “Sending Money Home” and “Remittances in the DR,” focus on remittance recipients in the DR and remittance senders from the US. The Dominican Republic, despite having a population of approximately 8 million, comprises the fourth largest remittance market in Latin America and the Caribbean, behind Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. It is also the third largest per-capita recipient, after Jamaica and El Salvador.
Of an estimated two million adults born in the DR who are currently living and working abroad, 70% send money to their relatives on a regular basis, typically US$135 to US$165 at a time. Typical family remittances range from US$1,500 to US$2,000 a year. It is estimated that 38% of all adults (or 1.9 million people) currently living in the DR receive remittances on a regular basis, typically 12 to 15 times a year.
During 2004, over US$2.7 billion in workers’ remittances was expected to be received by families in the DR from relatives living abroad. This is broken down as such: US$1.6 billion (59%) from the United States, US$815 million (30%) from Europe, US$240 million (9%) from Puerto Rico, and the rest from Canada and other countries in Latin America.
The study reveals that approximately 70% of Dominican families who receive remittances have household incomes of less than US$3,500 a year, indicating that for more than a million families, remittances are an economic necessity. For these families, remittances constitute approximately half of their total income.
For the complete studies and findings, see:
http://www.dr1.com/news/2004/121704_sendingmoney.pdf
http://www.dr1.com/news/2004/121704_remittances.pdf