DUSHANBE, February 18, 2011, Asia-Plus  -- Migrants remittances are a stable source of external financing for many countries and according to official data, migrant remittance flows to developing countries were estimated at 300 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, according to the UN News Center.

The official data do not include funds that people working abroad send to their families through their friends and acquaintances.  Many people do not want to remit money through official channels in order to avoid large exactions and a number of other barriers, according to the UN News Center.

According to the United Nations data, some 214 million people currently live and work outside their countries.  Six out of ten migrants live in advanced countries.

In the meantime, according to the World Migration Report 2010 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in 2010, there are an estimated 72.6 million migrants living in Europe and Central Asia, representing around one third of all international migrants in the world.  Some of the most remittance-dependent economies in the world can be found in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

In Tajikistan, remittances last year made up 49.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GPD), the report says.