A recent report by Italy’s banking association, ABI, has revealed that foreign-born workers in Italy sent 210 million euro back to their home countries last year. The report also revealed that the country’s migrant workers had, on average, nearly 8 percent more cash in their bank accounts than they did in 2007.
Morocco, Romania, Moldova, Brazil and Albania were the countries to which immigrants sent the most money. The average value of transactions was 1,543 euro, the report stated. ‘Immigrants are relying on Italian banks to send sizeable sums of money back to their home countries, generally over 1,000 euros.’
The average immigrant’s bank balance rose to 1,514 euro in 2009, up 7.9 percent from 1,404 euro in 2007, according to the report. Between 2007 and 2009, the number of legal immigrants rose by 32.4 percent to 3.9 million, although the proportion of immigrants with a bank account decreased from 67 percent to 61 percent over the same period, the report said.
