CubaTrade-April2017-FLIPBOOK
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Remittances to Cuba, 2011-2016 (in millions USD)<br />
REMITTANCES TO CUBA. 2011-2016 (in millions USD)<br />
Remittances to Cuba, 2011-2016 (in millions USD)<br />
Source: The Havana Consulting Group and Tech<br />
Source: Havana Consulting Group and Tech<br />
Source: The Havana Consulting Group and Tech<br />
Cuban emigration through legal (visa) and illegal routes, 2002-2016<br />
CUBAN EMIGRATION THROUGH LEGAL (visa) and ILLEGAL ROUTES, 2002-2016<br />
Cuban emigration through legal (visa) and illegal routes, 2002-2016<br />
In the last 12 years, 644,047 Cubans<br />
emigrated to the United States via<br />
formal and informal means. These<br />
new arrivals boosted remittance<br />
growth in recent years<br />
to Cuban citizens, in addition to more than 20,000 migrant visas<br />
per year. Cuban authorities report that from January 2013 to<br />
December 2016, some 671,000 Cubans traveled off the island,<br />
making 1,745,000 trips.<br />
The Remittances Impact<br />
Foreign currency remittances sent by Cuban exiles was decriminalized<br />
by the Cuban government in 1993, and have gradually<br />
gained a preponderant place in the country’s economy. Remittances<br />
are now the main support of the dollarized retail sector of<br />
the island, and their value exceeds that of the six of most important<br />
export commodities and services of the Cuban economy.<br />
72 CUBATRADE APRIL 2017<br />
In 2015 Cuba’s receipt of remittances in cash and merchandise<br />
totaled $6.85 billion, while the combined value of exports of<br />
nickel, sugar, drugs, tobacco, and fresh and frozen seafood, and of<br />
tourism sales, amounted to about $5 billion.<br />
Undoubtedly migration has greatly influenced these figures.<br />
In the last 12 years, 644,047 Cubans emigrated to the United<br />
States via formal and informal means. These new arrivals boosted<br />
remittance growth in recent years; so did the Obama administration’s<br />
lifting of all regulations that limited Cuban-American<br />
travel and money transfers to the island. Large remittance companies<br />
have taken advantage of that by initiating correspondence<br />
procedures with Cuban authorities so they can operate in the<br />
Cuban market.<br />
Photo by Jon Braeley
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