Brussels, 11/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Nearly €40 billion (€39.1 billion) was transferred by expatriate workers to their country of origin in 2011, new data published by Eurostat on Tuesday point out. This represents a rise of 2% in comparison with 2010. Extra-EU flows of workers' remittances represented three quarters of the total - Eurostat's figures also covering remittances sent inside the EU. The extra-EU flows grew by 3% to reach €28.5 billion, whilst intra-EU flows remained nearly stable at €10.7 billion, a Eurostat press release states. Among the member states for which data are available, the outflow of workers' remittances in 2011 was highest in France (€9.7 billion, in other words 25% of the total EU remittances), Italy (€7.4 billion, or 19%), Spain (€7.3 billion, or 19%), Germany (€3 billion or 8%) and the Netherlands (€1.5 billion or 4%). In these five member states, the share of extra-EU remittances in the total ranged from 64% in France to 83% in Italy. (SP/transl.fl)