Romanians working abroad sent EUR 17.3 billion in the country between 2009 and 2014, more than the total foreign direct investment in Romania during that period, which totaled EUR 15 billion, reports local Profit.ro.

The foreign direct investment surpassed the amounts sent to the country by the Romanian diaspora only in 2015, according to data from Romania’s National Bank (BNR).

Before the economic crisis, the foreign investments were more than 30% higher than the money sent by Romanians from abroad. In 2008, the foreign direct investment reached EUR 9.2 billion whereas the money from diaspora totaled EUR 6.3 billion.

The situation radically changed after the crisis. The money from abroad amounted to EUR 3.5 billion in 2009 whereas the foreign investments dropped to EUR 3.3 billion. Only in 2015, foreign investments rose to EUR 3.4 billion whereas Romanians working abroad sent EUR 2.7 billion to the country.

Overall, between 2006 and 2015, Romanians abroad sent EUR 37.8 billion to the country while foreign direct investment totaled EUR 43.4 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com