Survey Strategy and Questionnaire on Estimating Informal Remittances

Most countries have good data on remittances sent/received through intermediaries licensed and regulated by national authorities, such as central banks. However, data collection on informal remittances, particularly in LDCs, is either lacking or has significant gaps. This survey guide aims to offer information on using surveys to measure unrecorded remittances (often regarded as remittances sent and received through informal channels) or “informal remittances”. This document is intended to offer guidance on how countries can utilize surveys to measure unrecorded remittance flows or “informal remittances” to improve overall remittance data as well as to provide a more nuanced picture of the sources, channels, and the uses of informal remittances. To achieve this the first part of this document provides an approach to developing an informal remittances survey strategy. The second part of the document has developed a model survey/ questionnaire which central banks or other authorities may utilize as a basis for sample survey development on informal remittances.