In a real turn up for the books, the World Bank's latest report released here has stated that India received the largest amount of remittances from migrants in 2007--all of US$27 billion (S$37.4 billion)--followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines and France.

The Chinese expatriate community spread across the globe has for long been thought to have been the unquestioned leaders when it came to sending remittances back home; indeed, remittances have been a major driver of economic growth in the Communist country.

India, now, has knocked China off the top spot with its $27 billion remittances while China comes in a close second with remittances worth $25.7 billion in 2007, according to the World Bank.

Mexico ($25 billion), the Philippines ($17 billion), and France ($12.5 billion) make up the top five. (Tajikistan, Moldova and Tonga were the top remittance-receiving countries as a percentage of GDP.)

"In many developing countries, remittances provide a lifeline for the poor," said Dilip Ratha, senior economist and co-author of the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2008.

He added that remittances are "often an essential source of foreign exchange and a stabilising force for the economy in turbulent times".

In terms of migration, the United States of America was the top immigrant-receiving country with 38.4 million immigrants, followed by Russia with 12.1 million and Germany with 10.1 million.

As a percentage of the population, Qatar (78 per cent), Andorra (78 per cent) and the United Arab Emirates (71 per cent) were the top immigrant-receiving countries.

Among low-income countries, India had the highest immigration volume (5.7 million people), and Pakistan (3.3 million people).

"Migration is sometimes used as a political pawn and policies are too often based on anecdotes or misconceptions," said Uri Dadush, Director of the World Bank's Development Prospects Group and International Trade Department. "By presenting the numbers and facts behind these stereotypes, this publication aims to paint a more objective picture of a crucial aspect of development."

International migrants are mostly people who move voluntarily, but the World Bank noted that in 2005 there were some 13.5 million refugees and asylum seekers, comprising 7 per cent of global migrants.

The Factbook found that South-North migration (from the developing world to the developed world) accounted for 47 per cent of the total emigration from developing countries. It also stated that smaller countries were more likely to have higher rates of skilled emigration.

The Mexico-USA corridor is the largest migration corridor in the world and had accounted for 10.4 million migrations by 2005. Migration corridors in Russia-Ukraine are the next largest, followed by Bangladesh-India.