Illicit financial outflows and tax evasion cost Nigeria $129bn in the past decade, a report by Global Financial Integrity, a United States-based organisation that promotes financial accountability, has revealed.
According to the report titled; 'Illicit financial flows from the developing countries: 2001-2010,' in 2010 alone, the developing world lost $859bn, an 11 per cent increase over what it lost in 2009.
Nigeria's $129bn loss saw it claim the seventh position among the top 10 countries with the highest measured cumulative illicit financial outflows between 2001 and 2010.
China topped the list with a loss of $2.74tn, followed by Mexico ($476bn), and Malaysia ($285bn).
Saudi Arabia ($210bn), Russia ($152bn) and the Philippines ($138bn) were ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, while India ($123bn), Indonesia ($109bn) and United Arab Emirates ($107bn) completed the top 10.
In the 10-year period reviewed, developing countries lost $5.86tn to illicit financial outflows, according to the report.
"Conservatively estimated, illicit financial flows have increased in every region of developing countries," it stated.
A breakdown of the loss showed that Africa accounted for 23.8 per cent, followed by the Middle East and North Africa with 26.3 per cent. Developing Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere accounted for 3.6, 7.8 and 2.7 per cent, respectively.
"The report presents four different methodologies for estimating illicit financial flows from developing countries, including the methodology used in Global Financial Integrity's previous research, and encourages scholars and experts to weigh in which best estimates illicit financial flows," GFI explained.
According to the report, trade mis-pricing was found to account for an average of 80 per cent of cumulative illicit flows from developing countries over the period 2001-2010 and is the major channel for the transfer of illicit capital from China and Mexico.
The Director, GFI, Raymond Baker, said, "Astronomical sums of dirty money continue to flow out of the developing world and into offshore tax havens and developed country banks.
"Developing countries 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."
