Remittances and the economy

According to figures published today in Prensa Libre, remittances for January, 2011, are up 15.1% from a year ago (that is, from January, 2010). Total remittances for 2010 were up over 2009, but lower than 2008.  

So, this bears closer analysis. It would be interesting to know (and very hard to document) whether this is because the average Guatemalan living overseas is sending more, or whether there are more Guatemalans abroad (i.e. higher average remittance, or just simply more people sending them).