The impact of remittances from abroad on socio-economic development in Tajikistan

Abstract

The relevance of this article is due to the importance of labor migration and remittances from migrant workers for the economy of Tajikistan. The purpose of the article is to determine the impact of remittances on living standards in Tajikistan at both the national and local levels. It is known that labor migration has become a significant socio-economic phenomenon for the country and society, involving a large part of Tajikistan’s population. Using statistical and sociological research methods, the authors show the key trends and the scale of labor emigration from Tajikistan in 1990-2020, as well as the socio-demographic structure of migrant worker flows from Tajikistan to the Russian Federation and other countries, with identification of a new trend towards a reorientation of migration flows to OECD countries. It has been established that migrant remittances have a positive impact on GDP growth, helping to open small businesses, develop entrepreneurship, create new jobs in the private sector, and boost construction. Remittances stimulate additional consumption: migrant workers’ households have more opportunities to meet their basic needs for food, consumer goods and durables, education, etc. The negative impact of remittances is that they actually help to meet only current needs, while the creation of new, high-technology jobs is slow and insufficient, lagging behind population growth. The country thus becomes hostage to external market conditions: the demand for foreign labor and crisis phenomena in the receiving countries.