Migrants' savings transfers to countries of origin: an economic challenge for development.

Summary Since the mid-1970s, the amounts transferred by migrants to their countries of origin have grown steadily. They represent more than twice the amount of official development assistance (ODA) and have surpassed foreign direct investment to developing countries outside the BRICs. This article takes stock of migrant savings transfers, examines the determinants of these transfers and, above all, their macroeconomic effects on growth and their microeconomic effects on poverty, inequality and the education of children in the migrants' countries of origin. While recent studies highlight ambiguous macroeconomic effects, the microeconomic effects appear undeniably positive. It also appears that the decision of migrants to return or not to return to their country of origin plays a determining role. Finally, the issue of remittances is still relatively absent from economic policy debates in the countries of origin, even though it raises major problems.