HANOI, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Remittances to Vietnam totalled 19 billion U.S. dollars last year, making it one of the world's top 10 remittance recipient countries, local media reported on Sunday.

Total remittances to the Southeast Asian country increased nearly 5 percent in 2022 and may go up 3.6-4.5 percent in the following years, local Vietnam News newspaper reported, citing a recent report by the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development.

Among remittance sources, the United States houses the largest number of Vietnamese immigrants, followed by Britain, Australia and Canada. Meanwhile, Japan, South Korea and China's Taiwan post the most number of workers from Vietnam, according to the report.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic's impacts on the global economy over the last two years and growing inflation in many countries, remittance flows into Vietnam remained relatively stable compared to previous years, the report said.

Some banks believed the growing remittance inflows will help them not only gain more profits from services but also boost foreign exchange reserves, serving Vietnam's foreign currency attraction policy, it added.

Ho Chi Minh City has received the most remittances in Vietnam with the inflows totaling 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, Vietnam News Agency said in a recent report.

More than 5.3 million Vietnamese are currently living and working in 130 countries and regions, according to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese.