More than US$400bn of illicit cash flowed out of the six GCC countries between 2001 and 2010, according to a report by a global financial watchdog.
Out of a total value of US$413.9bn, more than half (US$210bn) during the period flowed out of Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE at US$107bn, Qatar at US$56.1bn, Kuwait at US$24.2bn, Bahrain at US$9.7bn and Oman at US$741m.
The report, conducted by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI), estimates illicit financial flows from developing countries, including cash lost to money laundering, organised crime, corruption and tax evasion. The study does not include illicit financial flows derived from drug trafficking, human smuggling and other primarily cash-based criminal activities.
“Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world and into offshore tax havens and developed country banks,” said GFI Director Raymond Baker.
“Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world.
“Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world."
More than US$400bn of illicit cash flowed out of the six GCC countries between 2001 and 2010, according to a report by a global financial watchdog.
Out of a total value of US$413.9bn, more than half (US$210bn) during the period flowed out of Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE at US$107bn, Qatar at US$56.1bn, Kuwait at US$24.2bn, Bahrain at US$9.7bn and Oman at US$741m.
The report, conducted by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI), estimates illicit financial flows from developing countries, including cash lost to money laundering, organised crime, corruption and tax evasion. The study does not include illicit financial flows derived from drug trafficking, human smuggling and other primarily cash-based criminal activities.
“Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world and into offshore tax havens and developed country banks,” said GFI Director Raymond Baker.
“Regardless of the methodology, it’s clear: developing economies are haemorrhaging more and more money at a time when rich and poor nations alike are struggling to spur economic growth. This report should be a wake-up call to world leaders that more must be done to address these harmful outflows.”
On a global basis, China topped the study over the ten-year period, with US$27.4 trillion of dirty money exiting the country into Western banks and tax havens, followed by Mexico with US$476bn and Malaysia with US$285bn.
The developing world lost of a total of US$5.86 trillion to illicit financial activities over the period, the IFG said. The amount of cash lost to laundering, crime and tax evasion increased 11 percent between 2009 and 2010, the report found.
The developing countries which lost the most to illicit financial outflows in 2010 were:
China ....................... $274 billion average ($2.74 trillion cumulative)
Mexico ..................................... $47.6 billion avg. ($476 billion cum.)
Malaysia .................................. $28.5 billion avg. ($285 billion cum.)
Saudi Arabia ........................... $21.0 billion avg. ($210 billion cum.)
Russia ....................................... $15.2 billion avg. ($152 billion cum.)
Philippines ............................... $13.8 billion avg. ($138 billion cum.)
Nigeria ...................................... $12.9 billion avg. ($129 billion cum.)
India ......................................... $12.3 billion avg. ($123 billion cum.)
Indonesia ................................. $10.9 billion avg. ($109 billion cum.)
United Arab Emirates .............. $10.7 billion avg. ($107 billion cum.)
Iraq ......................................... $10.6 billion avg. ($63.6 billion cum.)2
South Africa ........................... $8.39 billion avg. ($83.9 billion cum.)
Thailand ................................. $6.43 billion avg. ($64.3 billion cum.)
Costa Rica ............................... $6.37 billion avg. ($63.7 billion cum.)
Qatar ........................................ $5.61 billion avg. ($56.1 billion cum.)
Serbia ....................................... $5.14 billion avg. ($51.4 billion cum.)
Poland .................................... $4.08 billion avg. ($40.8 billion cum.)
Panama ................................... $3.99 billion avg. ($39.9 billion cum.)
Venezuela ................................ $3.79 billion avg. ($37.9 billion cum.)
Brunei ..................................... $3.70 billion avg. ($37.0 billion cum.)
Business.com
Follow us on our social media channels:
@ILQlive
@ILQlive
@ILoveQtr
ILoveQatar
