Turks living in Germany transfer near $1B to families in Turkey

Turkish people living in Germany have transferred over 800 million euros ($954,549,909 US) to their families living in Turkey in 2016, a report by a German business magazine said.

According to weekly business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, migrants living in Germany transferred a total of 4,200,000,000 euros ($5,014,000,000) to their families abroad.

Turkish people living in the country make up the majority of those sending funds to their homeland, the report said, based on data obtained from the German Central Bank Deutsche Bundesbank.

The report noted that compared to 2015, the total amount of money transfers made by migrants living in Germany increased by 700 million euros ($835,560,000) in 2016.

There has also been a considerable increase in the amount of money transferred to those living in Eastern European countries, while the amount of money transferred to those living in Syria went up from 18 million euros ($21,481,000) to 67 million euros ($79,960,000).

In 1961, Turkey and Germany signed a recruitment agreement, which allowed Turkish citizens to work in Germany as guest workers.

Turkish people make up one of the largest minorities in Germany with more than 3 million people.