Remittance costs as a proportion of the amount remitted

SDG 10 / Target 10c: by 2030, reduce to less than 3% the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5%

A 10-year trend analysis of the official SDG data using the SDG Data Explorer Tool created by the Commonwealth Secretariat shows that among all Commonwealth countries, the cost of remittances as a proportion of the amount remitted is currently highest in Malawi at 15.8% and lowest in Cameroon at 4.2%. The Commonwealth country that has made the greatest improvement in cutting remittance costs in this 10-year period is also Cameroon. The Commonwealth average for remittance costs over the last 10 years has improved marginally, dropping from 11.2% in 2011 to 9.6% in 2019.

For the first time, a country’s environmental footprint has been taken into account in determining rankings for the UN’s Human Development Index.

The ‘planetary pressures adjusted’ 2021 Human Development Index (PHDI) takes into account a country’s relative planetary pressure – carbon dioxide emissions per person (production-based) and material footprint per capita – when measuring their level of human development. Based on this new methodology for assessing ‘human development’, 26 Commonwealth countries have improved their HDI ranking in comparison with the 2020 index. Sri Lanka’s ranking has improved the most year-on-year, moving up by 34 places. Singapore’s fell by 92 places.

Income inequality in the Commonwealth

African countries lead in improving income inequality in the Commonwealth

Source: World Bank (2019)

The chart shows the Commonwealth countries that made the greatest improvement in reducing income inequality in their respective regions between the years 2000 and 2016. In total, 16 Commonwealth countries reduced inequality – 8 from Africa, 3 from Asia, 4 from the Pacific and 1 from Europe. No country from the Caribbean and Americas region reduced income inequality in the same period. Countries that registered the biggest improvement across the Commonwealth are Botswana, The Gambia, Solomon Islands, Sierra Leone and Kenya. The countries that exacerbated income inequality are Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Malawi and Cameroon.