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OSCAR GÓMEZ LACALLE
In 2009 Germany was the most important source of remittances from the EU, recording €11 billion, 14.4 percent of EU remittance outflows (table 17.1), followed by Italy (€9.3 billion), Spain (€8.6 billion), and the Netherlands (€7.3 billion). The top 10 remittance-sending EU member states account for two-thirds of total EU outflows. TABLE 17.1 Top 10 Remittance-Sending Member States, 2009 Country
€, billions
% of total
Germany
11.0
14.4
Italy
9.3
12.1
Spain
8.6
11.3
Netherlands
7.3
9.6
France
3.7
4.9
Belgium
3.0
3.9
Austria
2.1
2.8
Czech Republic
1.8
2.4
Greece
1.3
1.7
Poland
0.9
1.2
Source: Eurostat.
Estimates of workers’ remittances (excluding compensation of employees)2 amounted to €30.3 billion in 2009 (figure 17.2), after a drop of 7.1 percent from the previous year. As opposed to compensation of employees, most workers’ remittances (almost 75 percent) are destined to go to non-EU countries and show a higher degree of concentration at origin (table 17.2). In fact, the top 10 member states together send 80.8 percent of EU workers’ remittances, and Italy and Spain each records remarkable shares in excess of 20 percent of total EU workers’ remittances. FIGURE 17.2 Workers’ Remittances by Destination, 2004–09 35
€, billions
30 25 20
Extra-EU
15 10 5 0
IntraEU 2004
Source: Eurostat.
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009