Santo Domingo – The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reported today that between the months of January and May 2022 the remittances received reached a figure of US$4,057.2 million.
Likewise, he highlighted that this amount exceeds by US$1,186.9 million the remittances received in the first five months of 2019, the period prior to the start of the pandemic.
Source: BCRD
In the month of May 2022, remittances totaled US$851.2 million. These figures reaffirm the establishment of a new level of monthly remittance flows of around US$800.0 million.
In that sense, when comparing this amount for May 2022 with the average value in the same month for the period prior to the 2015-2019 pandemic, which was US$492.9 million, a significant increase is observed.
The issuing entity explains that the conditions of the labor market in the United States (USA) is one of the main factors that continues to affect the behavior of remittances, since 84.9% of the flows in May came from that country.
During that month, the US economy created 390 thousand jobs, keeping the unemployment rate at 3.6% in May 2022. Particularly, the unemployment of Hispanics in the US increased slightly from 4.1% in April to 4.3% in May.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
The BCRD also highlights the reception of remittances from other countries, such as Spain, in the order of 6.4%, second country in terms of total residents of the Dominican diaspora abroad, as well as Haiti and Italy with 1.2% and 0.8 % of flows received, respectively.
The rest of the reception of remittances is divided among countries such as Switzerland, Canada and Panama, among others.
Source: BCRD
Regarding the distribution of remittances received by provinces, the BCRD indicates that the National District obtained the highest proportion, 33.5%, followed by the provinces of Santiago and Santo Domingo, with 14.4% and 8.9%, respectively. This indicates that more than half (56.8%) of remittances are received in the metropolitan areas of the country.
Source: BCRD
Analyzing the flows of May 2022 according to the gender of the recipient, men predominate, with 53.0%. Women captured the remaining 47.0% of remittances received through formal channels.
Source: BCRD
