In more recent times, Italian emigration has waned, and Italy – historically a source of emigration – has become an increasingly attractive destination for migrants (since the late 1980s immigration has regularly outweighed emigration). Since 1999, Italy has recorded a net outflow of migrants’ remittances.
The Heads of State and Government of the G8 countries, which are the main remittancesending economies, first dealt with remittances at the Sea Island Summit in 2004. Since then, a number of initiatives have been taken to improve information on remittance flows, to facilitate transfers and reduce fees, to ensure the safety and integrity of financial flows and to enhance their developmental impact.