In 2013, private transfers from abroad were up by 13.4%, to USD 8.5 billion.

In particular, USD 4,084 million of all private transfers to Ukraine was sent through international payment systems, USD 3,293 million was put in banks’ correspondent accounts, and USD 1,160 million came through informal channels (when cash or valuables were transferred from household to household).

It should be noted that starting from 2010 households have increasingly been using international payment systems to make private money transfers. While in 2008-2009 international systems accounted for one third of all transfers to Ukraine, in 2011 this figure increased to 40%, reaching 47.8% in 2013. This means that official tools to transfer money are becoming increasingly attractive.

The main sources of private money transfers from abroad were workers’ remittances, at USD 5,652 million (excluding taxes and expenditures in the country of residence) and private transfers, at USD 2,885 million.

CIS countries accounted for 40.3% of private transfers to Ukraine in 2013. As for the rest of the world, the largest shares of transfers were received from the United States and Germany - 8.7% and 5.6% of total transfers respectively. Money transfers from EU countries increased by 0.8%, compared to a year ago, to USD 2.3 billion or 30.8% of all transfers.

For reference

According to BOP methodology, remittances represent household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies.

Remittances include cash and noncash items that flow through formal channels, such as banks, international money transfer systems, post offices, or through informal channels, such as money or goods carried across borders from one household to another.