This is mainly due to a remittances "boom" in South Asia and strong flows to East Asia and the Pacific, while remittances to Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa are weaker.
The World Bank says global remittances will fall to $317 billion in 2009, down from $338 billion in 2008. The expected 6.1 percent drop is smaller than the World Bank's July prediction of 7.3 percent.
But the Bank warns remittances may only have a shallow recovery in 2010 and 2011, especially if the economic recovery turns out to be jobless.
Even so, remittances will likely fare better than other forms of income and are expected to become even more important as a source of development financing in many developing countries.
Bissera Kostova, UN Radio.
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