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FACTBOX –Illicit financial outflows from developing countries

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:54 GMT

Source: trustlaw // Luke Balleny

A woman leaves an exchange office at a shopping centre in northern Tehran 26/10/2011 REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

By Luke Balleny

LONDON (TrustLaw) – Developing countries lost $903 billion in illicit financial flows in 2009, a report published on Thursday by U.S.-based research and advocacy organization, Global Financial Integrity (GFI) said.

And the report entitled “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries over the Decade Ending 2009” estimates that $8.44 trillion flowed out of 157 different developing countries in the years 2000 to 2009 inclusive via crime, corruption and tax evasion.

Following are some of the major findings from the report:

 

The 10 biggest victims of illicit financial flows over the decade are:

  1. China -  $2.74 trillion
  2. Mexico - $504 billion
  3. Russia - $501 billion
  4. Saudi Arabia - $380 billion
  5. Malaysia - $350 billion
  6. United Arab Emirates - $296 billion
  7. Kuwait - $271 billion
  8. Nigeria - $182 billion
  9. Venezuela - $179 billion
  10. Qatar - $175 billion

 

The top 10 countries suffering the highest illicit outflows in 2009 were:

  1. China - $291 billion
  2. Saudi Arabia - $82.3 billion
  3. Poland - $66.3 billion
  4. Malaysia - $46.8 billion
  5. Mexico - $34.6 billion
  6. Nigeria - $33.4 billion
  7. Russia - $23.4 billion
  8. Indonesia - $20.5 billion
  9. United Arab Emirates - $19.5 billion
  10. Venezuela - $18.8 billion

 

Adjusted for inflation, annual illicit financial growth by region over the decade was:

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – 18.82 percent

Developing Europe – 15.93 percent

Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa) – 15.74 percent

Asia – 8.07 percent

Western Hemisphere – 4.07 percent

 

Conservative estimates of total illicit financial flows from developing countries over the decade
(Shown as percentage by region)

Asia – 44.9 percent

Middle East and North Africa – 18.6 percent

Developing Europe – 16.7 percent

Western Hemisphere – 15.3 percent

Sub-Saharan Africa – 4.5 percent

 

Source: Global Financial Integrity

 

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