New York, November 21:

Significant numbers of migrants have returned home from host countries hit by financial crisis and economic difficulties, the UN said yesterday in a study of the economic impact on workers.

“News about migrants returning in significant numbers to their home countries have become

more common, especially in cases where the economy of the host country sours,” the UN population division said.

It said the exodus out of affluent countries by migrant workers is taking place from Poland to

North America. World remittances by migrants have also dropped, from 17 per cent of their wages between 2002 and 2006 to just seven per cent of their wages in 2007 and 2008.

The total of all remittances sent home by migrants around the world amounted to about $283 billion in 2007. Quoting World Bank figures, the UN projected a further drop of remittances in 2009 and possible recovery in 2010.

The survey gave anecdotal evidence of the retreat by migrants, but offered few specifics. It said 21,000 Hispanics in the US lost jobs in the construction sector in 2007 and salaries of those having jobs have also dropped.