In January-May 2024, citizens of Kyrgyzstan abroad sent home $253.3 million. This is $19.7 million more than the previous month, Akchabar.kg reports.
The majority of these funds, $236.3 million, were transferred by Kyrgyz labor migrants from Russia. Thus, the increase in transfers compared to the previous month is entirely due to the higher amount sent from Russia, which increased by $20.4 million. However, despite a decrease in money transfers from countries further abroad, which fell by $586.8 thousand, the overall increase was lower.
The decrease in transfers from countries further abroad is attributed to a 13.9% reduction, or $1.4 million less from the category of "other" countries. Nevertheless, transfers from the USA increased by $500 thousand, and from Turkey by $200 thousand.
Overall, within five months, Kyrgyzstan received $1.1767 billion through rapid transfer systems, which is $24.4 million more than in the same period of 2023 ($1.1523 billion).
A recent World Bank study indicated that money transfers contribute 8% to household incomes in Kyrgyzstan.
Considering Kyrgyzstan's GDP in 2023 was $9.5 billion and a budget of $4.5 billion in 2024, the total amount of labor migrants' transfers to Kyrgyzstan constitutes nearly half of the state budget and over a quarter of the country's GDP by a volume.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 11, 2024