GENEVA
Labor specialists here say the global economic crisis will cause a sharp drop next year in worker remittances - a major source of income for developing countries.
Ryszard Cholewinski, a labor specialist at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the fall will heavily affect countries including Mexico, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
The flow of remittances to developing nations - currently about $283 billion, according to the World Bank - could decline by up to 9 percent because of the global slowdown, he said.
India was the top recipient of remittances last year, amounting to $27 billion, or about 3 percent of its gross domestic product.
Remittances received by China reached $25.7 billion; the Philippines, $17.2 billion; and Bangladesh, $6.6 billion; according to the IOM's "World Migration 2008" report.
Mexico got $25.7 billion in 2007, it said.
The gloomy economic outlook could dry up jobs in sectors that rely on migrant workers, such as construction (especially in oil-rich Persian Gulf nations), manufacturing, hospitality and tourism.
Health care and household domestic care are less likely to be affected, Mr. Cholewinski said.
About 10 percent to 15 percent of the more than 200 million migrants in the world today are categorized as irregular, Mr. Cholewinski said, adding that the majority enter a country legally and overstay.
