According to the World Bank, Georgia ranks 21st in the world in terms of dependency on remittances, Bm.ge reported. 12.92% of the country’s economy is generated by remittances sent by Georgian citizens working abroad. Without these funds, the size of the country’s local demand would have been much smaller.

World Bank statistics are based on 2019 data when Georgia received $ 1.73 billion in remittances. In the pandemic, 2020 remittances reached a record $ 1.88 billion. Accordingly, Georgia will be included in the top twenty countries dependent on remittances in the following ranking.

World Bank statistics show that the share of remittances is highest in low-income countries. In this regard, Tonga is in the first place, with 37% of its GDP being filled by remittances. In the second place, with 28.6% of GDP, is Tajikistan, whose significant part of the population is employed in Russia and other countries. Like Georgia, in Ukraine and Armenia, more than 10% of the economy is also dependent on remittances.