Vietnamese abroad send home over USD 17 billion in remittances in 2020

This represents a rise of nearly 3 per cent over 2019, a very positive result compared to the previous forecast in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the World Bank estimated that remittance flow to Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2020 fell by 7 per cent.

Vietnam came after China in remittances last year which received USD 59.5 billion, while the Philippines raked in USD 34.9 billion.

With remittances equivalent to 5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), Vietnam was among the top 10 countries in the region by the share of GDP.

According to the World Bank, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020, registering a smaller decline than previously projected.

The main drivers for the steady flow included fiscal stimulus that resulted in better-than-expected economic conditions in host countries, a shift in flows from cash to digital and from informal to formal channels, and cyclical movements in oil prices and currency exchange rates, the brief wrote.