During the 1980s, informal aid in the form of packages and remittances from overseas Vietnamese played an important role in improving the living standards of many families, maintaining the domestic economy, and boosting the country's holdings of hard currency. Vietnamese customs officials in 1983 told a Western journalist that packages from overseas relatives--valued at some US$70 million annually in Western products--generated between US$10 million and US$20 million annually in customs revenues alone. Remittances from overseas Vietnamese were believed to provide an additional US$100 million or more in annual foreign exchange earnings.

Data as of December 1987

NOTE: The information regarding Vietnam on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Vietnam Overseas Remittances information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Vietnam Overseas Remittances should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.