The total amount of the remittances from Cape Verdean émigrés in 2003 is estimated to have been lower than that of 2002. Preliminary data (from January to November 2003) from the Banco de Cabo Verde, Cape Verde’s central bank, suggests a decrease of some 10%, confirming the downward trend in money sent to the archipelago by émigrés seen over the last two years.

In the first 11 months of 2003, remittances from émigrés totaled little more than 7,000,000,000 CVE, considerably lower than the 12-month total for 2002 (8,000,000,000 CVE). In 2001, some 8,800,000,000 CVE were remitted to the country, the highest figure since 1990.

In the central bank’s view, this reduction is related to the job market conditions in the countries in which Cape Verdean émigrés are concentrated, although in previous years the downward trend was also due in part to changes in exchange rates, which no longer occurs with most European countries as a result of the fixed rate between the euro and the Cape Verdean escudo.

Analyzing remittances by country of origin, according to data available up to the present, the émigrés in the United States continue to be those who send the most money to Cape Verde, with a total in 2002 of 2,100,000,000 CVE. Even so, the total remitted from the US has diminished somewhat, the opposite of the situation with Portugal, which has shown an upward trend in this respect. In 2002, remittances from Portugal totaled more than 2,000,000,000 CVE, and it is expected that the total for 2003 will turn out to be greater than that sent from the US.

France is the third country on the list, with a total of 1,700,000,000 CVE in remittances, according to central bank data from 2002. Holland (881,000,000 CVE), Italy (387,000,000 CVE), Switzerland (132,000,000 CVE), the UK (105,000,000 CVE) and Luxemburg (90,000,000 CVE) are the other countries on the list from which émigrés have reduced the amount of money remitted to Cape Verde.

In terms of the destiny of remittances, according to the central bank bulletin, the municipality of Praia received more than any other in 2002, with a total estimated at 1,546,000,000 CVE. In second place is São Vicente, with a slightly lower figure of 1,543,000,000 CVE, followed by the island of Fogo (1,000,000,000), Santa Catarina (872,000,000) and Tarrafal (806,000,000).