DOHA: Remittances routed overseas by foreign workers totalled a whopping QR49.3bn ($13.53bn) last year, up 3.8 percent over 2011.
Remittance volumes were QR47.5bn in 2011, figures released by the banking regulator, Qatar Central Bank (QCB), suggest.
The economically active non-Qatari population that made much of the above money transfers grew to 1.3 million in 2012, the QCB said.
The numerically preponderant low-income workers accounted for a lion’s share of QR26.19bn ($7.19bn), or 53.6 percent of the total outflow.
A highlight was that annual per capita remittance for non-OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, which included GCC countries, was quite high at a whopping QR209,404 ($58,000).
Bulk of the remittances (83.6 percent) was sent in the currency of the recipient country, with exchange companies dominating the money transfer business with a three-fourths market share.
The QCB said positive growth was observed for all income categories, with Qatar claiming a 2.5 percent share in the global remittances.
North America continues to dominate with a 17.5 percent share in the global total, followed by the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) which accounted for 7.6 percent of the total.
The central bank this time did not identify major remittance-receiving countries as it did for 2011 when it pointed to India, the Philippines, the US and Egypt as the top destinations.
The Peninsula
