As inflows to the EU totalled €9.9bn in 2016, this resulted in a negative balance (-€20.4bn) for the EU with the rest of the world. The majority of personal transfers consist of flows of money sent by migrants to their country of origin.

Ιn Cyprus the money inflows amounted to €154m, €76m of which came from the EU and €79m from the rest of the world. Meanwhile the outflows amounted to €494m, €243m towards the EU and the €251m towards the rest of the world. 

Among Member States for which data are published, the outflows of personal transfers in 2016 were highest from France (€10.0bn), followed by the United Kingdom (€7.1bn), Spain (€6.8bn) and Italy (€6.2bn). 

In contrast, the highest inflows were recorded in Portugal (€3.3bn) and Poland (€3.0bn), ahead of the United Kingdom (€2.5bn) and Romania (€2.4bn). 

As a result, the largest surpluses in personal transfers were registered in 2016 in Poland and Portugal (both +€2.8bn) and Romania (+€2.2bn), while France (-€9.4bn) recorded by far the largest deficit, followed by the United Kingdom (-€4.6bn), Germany (-€4.2bn) and Italy (-€4.0bn).

In 2016, the highest shares of inflows from other EU Member States among total inflows were recorded in Slovakia (99%), Luxembourg and Hungary (both 94%) and Poland (88%). On the contrary, extra-EU inflows accounted for about three-quarters of total inflows in France (74%), and for about two-thirds in Italy (66%) and Belgium (63%). Slovakia (97%), Luxembourg (92%) and Ireland (79%) were the Member States that recorded the highest proportion of intra-EU outflows in total outflows. For extra-EU outflows, the largest shares were observed in Slovenia (86%), the Netherlands (83%), Portugal (81%), France (75%) and Italy (74%).

Source: Famagusta Gazette