The amount of money that immigrants world-wide sent to their families in Latin America and the Caribbean rose 4% in 2014 amid the U.S. economic recovery, a Central American influx to the U.S. and new technology for remitting funds.

The $62.4 billion remitted last year to the region—mostly from the U.S.--represented the largest gain since 2009, according to figures compiled by the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, which tracks immigrant economic issues. But it is still below the $65 billion peak in 2008.

Remittances help alleviate poverty in developing countries, with a substantial portion of the funds used by families for basic necessities, such as food, shelter and clothing, experts say. They are also a vital source of foreign income for recipient countries.

Mexicans sent home $23.6 billion in 2014, up from nearly $22 billion the previous year. That year, remittances had fallen 3.7% from 2012. They represent the largest foreign-born workforce in the U.S., where the vast majority of the money was sent from.

Remittances jumped by 12.5% to Honduras, 9% to Guatemala and 6.7% to El Salvador, according to the Washington think tank.