Based on the Department of Commerce’s January-March 2010 Economic Indicator, remittances for 2009 totaled $64.7 million or an average of $16.175 million per quarter.
The figure is far below remittances in previous years when the Saipan garment manufacturing industry was still active and the local tourism industry was still thriving.
Statistics show total remittances in 2005 reached $112.6 million.
This went down to $102.2 million in 2006 and to $93.6 million in 2007.
By 2008, total remittances plunged to $83.9 million as more foreign workers started to go home due to the worsening economy.
The last garment factory on Saipan closed in March 2009.
Federal authorities estimated there were over 16,000 documented foreign national workers in the CNMI as of last year.
A significant number of them were from the Philippines and China.
