Brazil is the second country in Latin America in receiving money from overseas.

According to Central Bank (BC) in 2007 reached U.S. $ 2.8 billion the amount of money sent to families in Brazil by Brazilians who live in other countries. Of this total, more than $ 1.3 billion comes from the United States, virtually the same amount established by BC in 1997, the total values returned.

That money, which is usually called a referral, comes from Brazilian people  who have left the country to seek better financial conditions and also work to help families who stayed in Brazil.

In addition to the data from BC, the numbers established by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) also show that United States is the main source of remittances: 42% of total, according to the IDB.

However, the IDB has established a total remitted higher in 2007: $ 7.1 billion. The second main source is Japan (34%), followed by the European Union (16%).

Data from MIF / IDB show that most of the people receiving these money in Brazil is concentrated in the SouthEast (58%) and South (39%). In general are women (65%), with low education (only 21% have higher education) and low-income classes.

Because of this profile, the specialist from IDB in Brasilia, Luciano Schweizer points out that these remittances are a very important social role in the country “Generally these people who emigrate usually makes 5 times more money than they would make in Brazil,” he says.

Among the major investments made with those resources in Brazil, is the purchase of property,  the improvement in the level of education and access to health services. “And in some cases, such as the dekasseguis, (Brazilians) that go to Japan and to Portugal, a large proportion of those who return to Brazil use the money to open and run a company,” says Schweizer.

Moreover, such values also create an impact on the financial market here. As Brazil has one of the highest levels of the bank remittance, between 60% and 70%, “obviously this money arrives and circulates within the formal financial system, and this is a work that the bank (IDB) has developed to increase the formality of such shipments because it lets people manage a history in the financial system and have access to other services offered in this system, “he says.