13 February 2008
Yemen ranked high among the top 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa in receiving financial remittances from abroad last year, according to a report issued by the World Bank.

Financial remittances of Yemenis living abroad amounted to $1.300 billion in 2007, forming 6.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product for that year.

Total remittances from Yemeni emigrants during 2000-2007 exceeded $10 billion, whereas money sent by foreign workers living in Yemen to other countries amounted to $587 billion during the same period, according to the World Bank.

These remittances are a way of reducing poverty and supporting the economy, a fact which was confirmed by the World Bank in its report, said Taha al-Fosiel, economist at Sana'a University.