Remittances From Europe's Migrant Workers Exceeded $109Bln in 2014

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Migrant workers living in Europe sent as much as $109.4 billion in remittances to their home countries in 2014, UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) found Monday.

According to IFAD, most of the remittances were sent from Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Around a third of all remittances went to Balkan and Baltic states, as well as Eastern Europe. The rest was sent to developing countries around the world.

As many as 150 million people are estimated to have benefited from the remittances.

Earlier on Monday, Kanayo Nwanze, the president of IFAD, told The Financial Times in an interview that the migrant workers in Europe were an "underestimated and under-appreciated" force strengthening local economies.