Migrant workers from Latin America and the Caribbean sent home $53.6bn to their families last year, an increase of 17 per cent on 2004.

The rise, documented in a survey to be announced today by the Inter-American Development Bank, confirms Latin America's position as the biggest market in the world for remittances. For the third consecutive year, remittances to the re-gion exceeded the combined flows of direct foreign in-vestment and overseas economic aid.