Remittance inflow from US falls 14% in Q3 FY23

Remittance receipts from the United States dropped 13.69% in the January-March period of the current fiscal year 2022-23 compared to the previous quarter, causing the North American country to lose the top position among Bangladesh's remittance source countries to Saudi Arabia again after two quarters.

Data from the Bangladesh Bank show that expatriate Bangladeshis living in the US sent home $834 million in January-March this year, down from $966.89 million in the previous quarter. 

Remittance inflow from Saudi Arabia also dropped 6.52% to $850.76 million in January-March this year from $910.14 million in the previous quarter. 

Despite the recent decline, the US remains the top remittance-earning source for Bangladesh if the total earnings of the first nine months of the current fiscal year are considered. In the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, the US became the largest source country of remittance for Bangladesh beating Saudi Arabia.

The total remittance earnings from the US was $2.8 billion from July to March of the current fiscal year, which is slightly higher than the $2.7 billion received from Saudi Arabia during the same period, according to the Bangladesh Bank.

The latest remittance data released by the central bank for March this year show that Bangladesh's monthly remittance earnings gain hit the $2 billion mark after six months when the US was the second-highest remittance-sending country with $304 million. The highest amount of $307 million remittance came from the United Arab Emirates in March, the central bank's data show. 

Saudi Arabia fell behind even after having four times higher Bangladeshi workers than the US. 

Some five lakh Bangladeshis live in the US whereas the number is as high as 20 lakh in Saudi Arabia.

Syed Mohammad Kamal, vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) said skilled manpower mostly migrated to the US and their income is higher than those in other countries which may be the reason for higher remittance from the US.

Bangladeshis started to migrate to the US from many before and now a generation has matured who are sending money home, he added.

Moreover, smooth remittance channels also contributed to rising remittance, he said. 

Saudi Arabia is the largest labour destination country for Bangladesh with nearly 40% share in total exported manpower while Malaysia contributed 26% last year, according to Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) statistics.

Migration of skilled manpower made the US the top remittance source when the country is not even among the top five countries in terms of the number of employment of Bangladeshi nationals, said industry insiders. 

Even though the number of employed Bangladeshi is less in the US than in other major labour destination countries, the higher income of skilled migrated manpower boosted remittances, they added. 

The recent trend shows that the educational migration to the US is getting a boost as the number of Bangladeshi students in US universities and colleges increased by 23.3% during the 2021-22 academic year compared to the previous year.

Some 10,597 students from Bangladesh chose to study in the US during the last academic year which is an all-time high, according to the 2022 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

Experts said Bangladeshi students travelling abroad for higher study is increasing gradually, especially to North America, Europe, and Australia thanks to alluring facilities, and scholarships.

Over the past decade, the number of Bangladeshi students in the United States has more than tripled, increasing from 3,314 during the 2011-12 academic year to 10,597 during the 2021-22 academic year.