Workers' remittances in the EU27 amounted to €26 bn in 2006

According to a recent survey of Member States' statistics, the money sent by migrants to their former country of residence, usually referred to as workers' remittances, from the EU27 Member States amounted to €26 bn in 2006, compared with €23 bn in 2005. These figures include both intra-EU27 and extra-EU27 flows.

Flows to other Member States accounted for a much lower share than flows to countries outside the EU27. In 2006, intra-EU27 flows accounted for €7 bn or one quarter of the total, and extra-EU27 flows for €19 bn or three quarters, the same proportions as in 2005. Spain, UK, Italy, Germany and France are the main remitting Member States. These five Member States account for more than 85% of total EU27 remittances.

In 2004, the 10 most important remittance corridors identified were Germany-Turkey, France-Morocco, France-Portugal, Spain-Morocco, Spain-Colombia, Germany-Poland, Spain-Ecuador, France-Algeria, Italy-Albania, and Germany-Serbia and Montenegro. Apart from intra-EU remittance flows, the main global regions of destination were non-EU Europe, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.