Analysis on Remittances, Migration and Development
The Inter-American Dialogue’s Migration, Remittances, and Development program provides expert analysis on migration and development, financial inclusion and remittances, and the money transfer marketplace. The following is a list of studies and publications the Dialogue has published since 2018 on these intersecting issues.
The Scope of Transnational Economic Engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean
May 31, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Reports
The following memo from the Inter-American Dialogue’s Migration, Remittances, and Development program provides a thorough update of transnational economic engagement throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, the memo outlines in detail the scale, composition, and nature and of migration in the region. Lastly, the memo concludes by offering four solutions for issues related to migration.
Understanding the Recent Growth in Remittances to Mexico
May 25, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Blogs
The following note reviews some of the factors driving recent growth. Typically, increases in remittances are due to increases in the principal sent (through frequency and amount remitted), or by increases in the number of senders (typically through migration).
Orozco: “Aquí tenemos el desencuentro entre política migratoria y política exterior.”
May 5, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Interviews
El 28 de abril, Manuel Orozco, director del Programa de Migración, Remesas y Desarrollo del Diálogo Interamericano conversó con CNN sobre los flujos actuales de migración en la región y la política migratoria de los EEUU frente a ellos.
The Political Situation in Nicaragua and International Migration from the Crisis
May 4, 2023 | Inter-American Dialo
gue | Podcasts
The following is a presentation from the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program that provides a robust overview of Nicaraguan migration in recent years, its drivers, and its impacts.
Orozco: “La principal razón por la que las remesas están creciendo es por la migración mexicana que crece.”
May 3, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Podcasts
Manuel Orozco ofreció su análisis al podcast Broojula del periódico El Universal sobre la última alza en remesas hacia México. En esta conversación con Ana Paula Ordorica, Orozco comento acerca de las razones detrás de este súbito crecimiento.
Venezuela: Remittances as a Source of Foreign Exchange and Economic Survival
May 2, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Presentation
The following presentation from the Migration, Remittances, and Development Program’s Remittance Industry Observatory (RIO) features new data on remittances in Venezuela.
International Migration from Latin America & the Caribbean: In Numbers

April 11, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue | Presentation
The Migration, Remittances, and Development Program published a presentation that delves deeply into how the scale, composition, and nature of migration in the Americas has changed drastically since 2015.
Family Remittances 2022 in Numbers

April 6, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue
The Migration, Remittances, and Development Program presented a report addressing the continued increase of annual remittance trends associated to large migration patterns in 2022.
Pairing Migration Enforcement with Foreign Policy
February 15, 2023 | Inter-American Dialogue
The Biden administration’s new border enforcement actions may reduce some but not all migration from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The measure may have the unintended result of marketing migration to those whose intention to do so was not as strong. This report recommends three differentiated steps the US should consider, including leveraging sanctions, working with the diaspora, and OAS engagement.
Haiti’s Turnaround and its Impact on Remittances

November 15, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
This blog examines the role of remittances on Haiti’s economy, pointing to a drop in flows in 2022 which may influence the economy as a result of less Haitians sending money. It also discusses its growing relevance over time, and the dependence on transfers from the US, while Haiti’s conditions deteriorate; hence it is crucial to provide support to its payment network and tie the flows to access to financial institutions.
Are Remittance Costs Coming Down in Latin America?

October 19, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
A Latin America Advisor Q&A featuring experts’ viewpoints on remittance costs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Transaction Costs in the Post-Covid Era

September 23, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
This blog examines remittance sending costs to eight Latin American and Caribbean countries and considers that the most important reality shaping the money transfer intermediation industry is that it is tied to a global currency market.
Migración, remesas y opciones de desarrollo para Guatemala

September 3, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
Hay que tomar en serio la migración y las realidades que la hacen posible porque la salida de personas,sin respuestas sólidas y comprometidas con el progreso social, no solo continuará, pero no hará mejoraral país, aun y con las remesas que entran.
A New Strategic Approach for El Salvador’s Economic Development Challenges

August 22, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
El Salvador’s sluggish economy and outdated economic model present serious challenges for the future. Weak economic performance means that life is hard and opportunities are scarce for large portions of the population.
Sustained Remittance Growth in 2022

July 29, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, remittances have become a much more important source of income for many people in Latin America and the Caribbean. We project a 14 percent growth rate in 2022 to nearly US$150 billion, equivalent to 5 percent of the gross domestic product in Latin American and the Caribbean countries.
Migrant Remittances to Central America and Options for Development

July 28, 2022 |Inter-American Dialogue
The report recommends leveraging remittances through financial access, education, and investment in order to strengthen economic developments and reduce the need for Central Americans to migrate in the first place.
La migración y la democracia: alternativas entre la exclusión y expulsión

July 25, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
Este informe presenta un análisis de las tendencias migratorias y el efecto que las condiciones políticas pueden tener en la movilización.
Thriving in San Marcos: Mainstreaming Migration for Development in Guatemala

July 22, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
In this report, The Inter-American Dialogue is pleased to present the activities and results of the Thriving in San Marcos initiative, which offered an innovative approach to local migration management.
The Real Root Causes of the Central American Migration Crisis

June 21, 2022 | Foreign Affairs
The number of migrants attempting to cross the border into the United States is already reaching record highs—and the number is expected to rise by late summer. Leaders from the countries that send the most people—Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—didn’t attend this month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. U.S. President Joe Biden didn’t extend an invitation to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, citing their dictatorial regimes.
Will Cryptoassets Disrupt Remittances in Latin America?

May 3, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
A Financial Services Advisor Q&A featuring experts’ viewpoints on the effects of cryptoassets on remittances in Latin America.
Los migrantes nicaragüenses en Costa Rica: Vulnerabilidad e implicaciones de su integración
April 22, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
Este informe presenta los resultados de un estudio comparativo sobre nicaragüenses que llegaron a Costa Rica antes y después del periodo de la crisis política de abril 2018.
Family Remittances in 2021: Is Double-Digit Growth the New Normal?
March 29, 2022 | Inter-American Dialogue
This report provides a review of the trends that led to growth in family remittances in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2021. It points to a combination of factors that include increased migration, migrants prolonging their stay in the United States, use of digital transfers among others. It also introduces projections based on future migration and remittance sender changes in 2022.
Economic Insecurity & Irregular Migration from El Salvador
December, 2021 | Creative Associates International
Building on Creative’s comprehensive work in the Northern Triangle on the intentions to migrate in 2019, this paper connects results from our follow-up survey of Salvadorans’ migration intentions with broader trends and analysis about migration from El Salvador
Thinking about the future of diasporas
September 29, 2021 | International Organization for Migration
A way to think about the future of diasporas begs addressing their presence in scope and depth in the global context. Diasporas are largely a by-product of human mobility and efforts of people to connect their identity to geography and to their ancestry. Such diaspora connections are likely to increase in the next ten years by virtue of continued migration, the need for globalized human capital and diasporas’ own influence on policy. (p.45-64)
Complex Migration Trends from Latin America and the Caribbean Amidst the Global Pandemic
September, 2021 | Creative Associates International
Amidst the global pandemic, migrants—particularly from Venezuela and Haiti—are going to Colombia, Chile, and Brazil. The root causes of current migration are more complex and include political crises, economic insecurity, violence, weak social protection systems, COVID-19 contagion, low vaccination rates, and natural disasters.
A Commitment to Family: Remittances and Covid-19
June 18, 2021 | Inter-American Dialogue
This report from the Migration, Remittances & Development Program presents the findings of a survey carried out with more than 1,000 US immigrants from eight Latin American and Caribbean nationalities during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study identifies critical aspects that shaped migrants’ experiences in 2020 and early 2021, and, importantly, the determinants of continuing to send money back home in times of crisis.
Migration, the Economy and Remittances in Central America
March, 2021 | Creative Associates International
This memo offers an insight about the impact of the global pandemic and devastating hurricanes Eta and Iota. We present data on individuals’ intentions to migrate in Guatemala and Honduras. Creative Associates International’s 2019 Saliendo Adelante study revealed that three key factors drove migration intentions—transnational ties, economic situation and victimization.
Venezuelan Immigration Trends, Challenges, and Possibilities for Integration
2021 | Creative Associates International
This memo presents an analysis of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, looking at their characterization, condition, and transnational ties.
International Migration Post-COVID
October, 2020 | Creative Associates International
This analysis demonstrates trends in migration and statistical correlations with key economic, social, and economic indicators. It identifies the characteristics of countries with migration dependence and identifies possible triggers of post-COVID migration patterns.
Money Transfers to Venezuela
May 1, 2020 | Inter-American Dialogue
This report by the Inter-American Dialogue’s Migration, Remittances and Development Program offers an overview of how foreign currency regulations affect money transfers to Venezuela in addition to describing and explaining Venezuelan migrant remitting behavior in six migrant host countries. It also provides an estimate of the aggregate volume of remittances sent to Venezuela.
Impact of Migrants’ Remittances and Investment on Rural Youth
December 12, 2019 | Inter-American Dialogue
In an increasingly globalized world community, rural international migration is often characterized by engagements or links that migrants establish with their home countries, home towns and relatives in their country of origin through transnational economic and social activities. This background paper analyses how migrants positively contribute to the sustainable economic development of rural youth in their countries of origin. Specifically, this paper details migrants’ contribution to youth rural development through transnational economic engagement, which positively impacts financial inclusion, creation of employment opportunities and the promotion of entrepreneurship.
Latin American and Caribbean Migration from Weak and Failing States
July, 2019 | Inter-American Dialogue
International human mobility from the Americas has increased dramatically to at least 40 million people in 2018, from 23 million in 2000. These migration flows respond to global demands for low skilled foreign labor. They also respond to political challenges related to state fragility.
Central American Migration: Current Changes and Development Implications
November 6, 2018 | Inter-American Dialogue
This report from the Migration, Remittances and Development Program analyzes recent trends in Central American migration, starting with a brief historical context and moving on to current developments. It considers geographical divisions, reasons for migrating, and growth in the overall migrant population. Finally, it considers implications of these current trends for Central American countries.
Towards an Adjustment of Status for Salvadorans with TPS
February 16, 2018 | Inter-American Dialogue
In January, 2018 the US government announced that it will not renew Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorans. Salvadorans with TPS have 18 months, or until September 2019, to either leave the country or try to make other arrangements. This note will explore the consequences of this decision and offer several proposals for avoiding or mitigating the potential harm to Salvadorans currently protected by TPS.