Last year, the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) diaspora donated a record 1.5 billion euros to their compatriots, which is 250 million euros more than in 2020, and it is attributed to their better financial capabilities, but also to the unstoppable trend of leaving the country.
”The reasons for the increase in remittances from abroad are the better financial situation of citizens in the diaspora and the growing number of migrants from BiH abroad who are starting to deliver money to the country,” the Central Bank of BiH announced.
Last year, according to the central bank, more than three billion BAM (about 1.5 billion euros) were allocated, which is 10 percent of GDP. In 2021, the diaspora allocated about 250 million euros more than in the first pandemic year, in 2020.
Every year, BiH receives about 500 million euros in pensions earned by its citizens abroad.
The Central Bank of BiH states that the largest amount of money until last year was paid by the diaspora in 2019 when 2.95 billion BAM were transferred.
Thousands of people leave BiH every year. Estimates show that there are about 1.65 million of them abroad, most of them in Europe. According to the latest census from 2013, about 3.5 million people live in BiH, but it is estimated that there are far less than three million now.
E.Dz.
Source: Radio Sarajevo
