News / National
Zim Diaspora remittances fall
28 May 2015 at 06:51hrs | Views
A significant number of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are not contributing anything towards the country through remittances despite 70 percent of them being employed, a report said.
Zimbabwe has a strong skilled and non-skilled Diaspora population mainly in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States who regularly send money back home to sustain their families. However, the money and goods that are being sent home are not enough to help transform the economy.
According to the 2014 Characteristics of Labour Migrants report, 46 percent of emigrants, which is the largest category, did not send remittances to Zimbabwe. "About 24 percent remitted both money and goods. 20 percent of all those staying abroad sent money only and the remaining 10 percent sent goods only," the report said.
The statistics in the report were obtained from a survey done concurrent with the Labour Force and Child Labour Surveys. Although the results cannot measure the magnitude of emigrants, they however provide characteristics of labour migrants during the period from June 2009.
The report shows that a large chunk of males (64,9 percent) living abroad did not send anything home. A number of Zimbabweans are living abroad.
While 70 percent is employed, about 76 percent of labour migrants did not remit to Zimbabwe while 9,7 percent remitted goods only and 8,9 percent money only.
Those who remitted both money and goods constituted 4,7 percent of the total number of labour migrants analysed in the survey. More females in the diaspora send goods home while more men send money.
The report also said 33 percent of migrants who are employed as domestic workers do not send remittances to Zimbabwe. While more men than women have left Zimbabwe to look for employment in other countries, the number of women who left to join their families was also high.
This could contribute to the reasons why there are more male emigrants than women.
Zimbabwe has a strong skilled and non-skilled Diaspora population mainly in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the United States who regularly send money back home to sustain their families. However, the money and goods that are being sent home are not enough to help transform the economy.
According to the 2014 Characteristics of Labour Migrants report, 46 percent of emigrants, which is the largest category, did not send remittances to Zimbabwe. "About 24 percent remitted both money and goods. 20 percent of all those staying abroad sent money only and the remaining 10 percent sent goods only," the report said.
The statistics in the report were obtained from a survey done concurrent with the Labour Force and Child Labour Surveys. Although the results cannot measure the magnitude of emigrants, they however provide characteristics of labour migrants during the period from June 2009.
While 70 percent is employed, about 76 percent of labour migrants did not remit to Zimbabwe while 9,7 percent remitted goods only and 8,9 percent money only.
Those who remitted both money and goods constituted 4,7 percent of the total number of labour migrants analysed in the survey. More females in the diaspora send goods home while more men send money.
The report also said 33 percent of migrants who are employed as domestic workers do not send remittances to Zimbabwe. While more men than women have left Zimbabwe to look for employment in other countries, the number of women who left to join their families was also high.
This could contribute to the reasons why there are more male emigrants than women.
Source - BH24
