With about $21 billion sent home by Nigerians in diaspora in 2015, the country is the sixth largest receiver of remittances in the world, the Migration of Remittance Factbook 2016 has shown.
The country is also by far the largest receiver of remittances in sub-Saharan Africa, receiving a total of $34.8 billion this year.
The report, which relied on data gathered from January to December 1, 2015, was compiled by the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development with support from the World Bank, German, Swedish and Swiss governments.
A Premium Times analysis of the report also shows that the United States and the United Kingdom are by far the most lucrative destinations for Nigerian migrants. Nigerians at home received a total of $9.4 billion ($5.7 billion from the US and $3.7 billion from the UK) from both countries in 2015.
According to the report, the U.S. is the top remittance-sending country in the world. A total of $56.3 billion was sent out of the US to other parts of the world. The second largest remittance-sending country is Saudi Arabia with $36.9 billion followed by Russia ($32.6 billion), Switzerland ($24.7billion) and Germany ($20.8 billion).
The report also shows that the cost of sending money within Africa is the second most expensive in the world (the most expensive being the cost of sending money between Australia to the South Pacific country of Vanuatu).
For every $200 remitted from South Africa to Zambia, senders are charged 19 per cent. The cost is 17.4 per cent to send the same amount from South Africa- Botswana and 17.3 per cent from Tanzania to Uganda.