Georgia's National Bank announced the annual statistics of money transfer to Georgian banks from abroad. According to the final figures, Russia remains the most profitable and most popular place of employment for Georgians abroad.
Out of total of $1.6 billion, $457.5 million were transferred from Russia to Georgia in 2018 (28.5%), an increase of 0.5%.
The total amount of transfers increased by 14.3% in 2018. The main growth of 33.8% was provided by Italy - $191.2 million (12% of the total), and of 16% - by Greece, the amount of money transfers from which reached $163.1 % (10% of the total).
The top five most profitable and popular countries for foreign earnings also includes the U.S. ($159.4 million, annual growth of 12.3%) and Israel ($151.1 million, annual growth of 26.9%). Turkey was ranked sixth with a decrease in remittances by 3.4% ($105.6 million).
The National Bank of Georgia also published the statistics of remittances sent abroad: $229.6 million were sent from the republic in 2018 (including $21.7 million in December), which is 10% more than in 2017.
