Call it increasing faith in growth story of India or patriotism or failing economies in Europe, India is the leading nation in receiving remittances from Indians in foreign countries. India received $70 billion from its global migrant workforce in 2014. China follows with $64.14 billion.

According to World Bank's study of remittance total remittances in 2014 reach $583 billion. Remittances to the developing world are expected to reach $440 billion in 2015, an increase of 0.9 per cent over the previous year. Global remittances, including those to high income countries, are projected to grow by 0.4 per cent to $586 billion.

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United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the top five  migrant destination countries and apart from India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria are the top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances, the report said.

This is attributed this mainly to weak economic growth in Europe, deterioration of the Russian economy and the depreciation of the euro and ruble.

Very healthy growth
In line with the expected global economic recovery next year, the global flows of remittances are expected to accelerate by 4.1 percent in 2016, to reach an estimated $6 10 billion, rising to $636 billion in 2017.

Remittance flows to developing countries are expected to recover in 2016 to reach $459 billion, rising to $479 billion in 2017, the World Bank said.

The global average cost of sending $200 held steady at 8 per cent of the value of the transaction, as of the last quarter of 2014.

Mode of transfer
Despite its potential to lower costs, the use of mobile technology in cross-border transactions remains limited, due to the regulatory burden related to combating money laundering and terrorism financing, the report said.

International remittances sent via mobile technology accounted for less than two percent of remittance flows in 2013, according to the latest available data.

In addition to sending money to their families, international migrants hold significant savings in their destination countries. 'Diaspora savings' attributed to migrants from developing countries were estimated at $497 billion in 2013, the latest data available.