Overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City up 22% despite COVID-19

The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached US$5.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021, up 22% year on year, the State Bank of Vietnam’s Branch in the city has reported.

The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached US$5.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021. (Illustrative image/Source: VNA)
The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached US$5.1 billion in the first nine months of 2021. (Illustrative image/Source: VNA)

This is considered an impressive growth rate as the COVID-19 pandemic has badly affected the global economy over the past two years.

It is estimated that this year's overseas remittances to the southern largest economic hub are 10-12% higher than last year’s figure of US$6.1 billion.

Vice Director of the SBV Branch in Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Hoang Minh said the main sources of overseas remittances to the city in the first three quarters remained the US, Australia, Canada and Europe.

Vietnamese abroad sent home US$17.2 billion worth of remittances in 2020, making the country the third-largest remittance recipient in the East Asia and Pacific region, according to the Migration and Development Brief released in May 2021 by the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD).

This represents a rise of nearly 3% over 2019, a very positive result compared to the previous forecast in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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