News: Saudi Arabia among world's worst for 'dirty money' flows

More than $30 billion in illicit capital flowed out of Saudi Arabia in 2012, facilitating crime and corruption, according to a new study released by Global Financial Integrity.

The Gulf kingdom was among the worst hit countries in the world, with nearly $310 billion of dirty money being drained between 2003 and 2012, the report said.

Saudi Arabia was the sixth worst hit country, behind China, Russia, Mexico, India and Malaysia.

Globally, a record $991.2 billion in illicit capital flowed out of developing and emerging economies in 2012, the US-based research and advisory organisation said.

The unrecorded funds left 151 developing and emerging economies, up nearly 5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report that exposes financial corruption.

GFI's sixth annual report found between 2003 and 2012, the estimated amount of illicit funds shifted from developing countries totalled $6.6 trillion and rose at an inflation-adjusted 9.4 percent a year - roughly double global GDP growth.

Sub-Saharan Africa suffered the biggest loss as a share of its economy, with the disappearance of dirty money averaging 5.5 percent of GDP. Nigeria and South Africa were among the top 12 nations with the largest volumes of illicit outflows.

GFI President Raymond Baker said the estimated losses were conservative but were still more than 10 times the total amount of foreign aid these countries received. He called the growth rate "alarming", having surged from about $297 billion in 2003.