Diaspora remittance inflow into Nigeria fell by 3.2 percent, quarter-on-quarter, to $5.52 billion in the first three months of 2020.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed this yesterday in its Economic Report for April 2020.
According to the report, “Inflow of personal transfers in the form of workers’ remittances declined marginally by 3.2 per cent to $5.52 billion, relative to $5.70 billion in 2019 Q4.”
The decline is in line with the World Bank’s prediction that remittance inflow into Nigeria and other Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) will fall by $445 billion this year due to decline in the wages and employment of migrant workers occasioned by the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.
“Remittances to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are projected to fall by 19.7 percent to $445 billion, representing a loss of a crucial financing lifeline for many vulnerable households,” the World Bank said in a statement in April,” the World Bank said in April.
Nigeria received $17.57 billion in direct Diaspora remittances in 2019, up by 56.4 percent from $11.23 billion in 2018.
According to a report by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) six out of 100 households in Nigeria receive remittances from abroad.
“Large share of households – 54.0 percent report receiving remittances: 52.7 percent receive remittance from someone in Nigeria and 5.7 percent from abroad.
“The average value of domestic remittance is N62,492 and of international remittance is N84,741. More than 80 percent of households who receive remittance report using the transfers for consumption purposes.
“The state of Kebbi has the largest share of household-remittance-recipients – 81.4 percent and state of Sokoto has the lowest number, only 5.6 percent receive any remittance”, the NBS said in its National Living Standard Survey Report for 2018/2019.
