Migrant workers last year sent home more than $301bn (￡148bn, €212bn) to their families in developing countries – an amount nearly a third higher than previous published estimates – according to new research published yesterday.

联合国国际农业发展基金(IFAD)和美洲开发银行(Inter-American Development Bank)联合进行的这项研究，与世界银行(World Bank)最近公布的数字形成比较。世界银行估计，移民工人2006年汇回国内的资金为2070亿美元，尽管该行表示，如果将通过非正规渠道转移回国内的资金包括在内，总额可能更高。

The study by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Inter-American Development Bank compares with recent World Bank figures for 2006 of $207bn, although the bank said the total would be higher if money sent through informal channels were included.

这项研究是全面计算移民汇款的首次尝试——除了各个央行记录在案的数字外，还包括通过非正规渠道汇回国内的资金。

The study represents the first attempt to calculate fully¹ remittances³ sent through informal channels, in addition to those recorded by central banks.

研究显示，一些较贫穷国家和地区（特别是在撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲国家和部分亚洲国家）的经济对汇款的依赖程度比以往想象的更深。农发基金总裁雷纳特?鲍格(Lennart Bage)表示：“汇款是陷入困境的经济体的生命线。”

It shows that the economies of some poorer countries and regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, are more dependent on remittances than had been thought. “Remittances represent a lifeline to struggling economies,” said Lennart B?ge, the president of IFAD.

IFAD和美洲开发银行的研究人员不仅使用了各个央行记录的正式数据，而且进行了民意调查、家庭支出和学术研究调查等，采用了各个商业银行和汇款机构的正式记录。

As well as using the official numbers recorded by central banks, researchers from IFAD and IDB drew on opinion polls, surveys of household spending and academic research, and on official records from banks and money transfer operators.

过去20年，经济自由化和跨境移民的不断增加，导致汇款急剧增长。1980年，汇往发展中国家的款项只有184亿美元。但汇款的增加在一定程度上也反映了这样一个事实：几个国家的央行调整了它们收集数据的方式。

Economic liberalisation and rising cross-border migration⁴ has triggered a sharp rise in remittance² flows in the last two decades, with flows to developing countries up from $18.4bn in 1980. But part of the increase reflects the fact that central banks in several countries have adjusted the way they collect data.

对汇款规模了解程度的加深，促进了决策者对这个问题的关注，鼓励了政界人士消除对汇款的限制。

Greater knowledge of the size of remittance flows has helped policy-makers focus on the issue and encouraged politicians to eliminate restrictions⁵ that make it difficult to send money.

另外，它还吸引了金融机构从事汇款业务，加剧了竞争，压低了汇款的平均成本。

It has also attracted financial institutions to the business of money transfer, increasing competition and driving down the average cost of making a remittance.

以央行在评估汇款市场规模方面取得了最大进展的拉丁美洲为例。在这里，银行与汇款机构[如西联汇款(Western Union)和速汇金(MoneyGram) ]之间的竞争之间非常激烈，在过去7年中，佣金下降了约三分之二，目前平均为5%。

In Latin America, for example, where central banks have made most progress in assessing the real size of the remittance market, competition between banks and money transfer companies, such as Western Union and MoneyGram, is acute and commissions have fallen by about two thirds to average about 5 per cent in the past seven years.