In 2018, migrant workers transferred to Ukraine an amount equivalent to 11 percent of the country's GDP
The World Bank explains the increase in funds transferred to Ukraine, in particular, by the growing demand for foreign workers in neighboring countries. As Deutsche Welle reports, the lion's share of remittances to Ukraine comes from Poland. Of the nearly five million Ukrainian migrant workers worldwide, over 1.2 million Ukrainians replace local workers in Poland, who, in turn, emigrated to Western Europe.
Traditional areas of employment for foreign workers in Poland are agriculture and construction, but the number of skilled workers, such as doctors and IT specialists, is also steadily growing.
Other countries from which Ukraine received the most remittances from migrant workers in 2018 were the Russian Federation, the United States, and the Czech Republic.
According to the World Bank, in 2005 Ukraine received $2.4 billion in remittances, in 2010 – $6.5 billion, and in 2015 – almost $8.5 billion.
Overall, according to the World Bank, migrants officially transferred $529 billion to low- and middle-income countries in 2018. This is 9.6 percent more than in 2017, when total remittances amounted to $483 billion.
The bank attributes the overall growth in remittances to improved labor market conditions and a strengthening U.S. economy overall, as well as increased outward remittances from the Gulf countries and Russia. Excluding China, the amount of remittances to low- and middle-income countries is significantly larger than the volume of foreign direct investment in these countries.
Overall, including remittances to high-income countries, foreign workers transferred $689 billion in 2018, compared to $633 billion in 2017. The main recipients of remittances from migrant workers in 2018 were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt.