Even though it was a difficult year, Vietnamese overseas still managed to send a lot of money to their home country, which is a crucial source of foreign currency for investment and development, said Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu at a meeting Tuesday.
Remittances dropped in 2019 but increased last year and this year, which helped stabilize the foreign currency market and reserves, he added.
Around 70 percent of remittances this year came through credit organizations, 28 percent through remittance companies and the rest via postal services, Tu said.
Ho Chi Minh City accounted for 30 percent of remittances, followed by central and northern localities.
The $12.5 billion figure was $5.5 billion lower than the $18 billion estimate of the World Bank and Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) earlier this month.