Global Remittance Statistics 2026: Flows, Costs and Top Countries

Global remittances reached $905 billion in 2024, with $685 billion of that flowing to low- and middle-income countries. Those World Bank estimates anchor most global remittance statistics, and the bank’s World Development Indicators database has since added 2025 values: India alone received $150.7 billion in 2025, while the United States paid out $107.1 billion.

The price of moving that money barely moved: the global average cost of sending $200 decreased from 6.49% in Q1 2025 to 6.36% in Q3 2025. A new US tax of 1% now applies to cash-funded remittance transfers made after December 31, 2025, adding a fresh cost layer for US senders. The data below covers flows by year, region and country, dependence on remittances, sending countries, transfer costs by region and channel, and the newest monthly figures from Mexico and Pakistan.

Key Takeaways

• South Asia took about 30.2% of all remittances to low- and middle-income countries in 2024, on World Bank estimates.
• India’s 2025 inflows equal about 18.7% of the world total, according to the World Bank database records for that year.
• In the decade to 2024, remittances to low- and middle-income countries increased by 57%, while foreign direct investment declined by 41%.
• Digital remittances cost 4.59% on average in Q3 2025, against 7.30% for non-digital transfers.
• For taxable $200 to $500 transfers, the new 1% US tax adds an average of 18 to 26% to the total remittance cost senders face.
• Pakistan’s workers’ remittances rose 16.5% year on year in August 2026, while Mexico’s inflows fell 3.6% in the same month.
• The share of corridors costing under 5% rose from 17% in Q1 2009 to 83% in Q3 2025.

Editor’s Choice

• World remittances, 2024: An estimated $905 billion, up from $865 billion in 2023.
• Growth to developing countries, 2024: An estimated 5.8%, up from 1.2% in 2023.
• US outflows, 2024: $103.2 billion paid abroad by US residents.
• Bank transfer cost, Q3 2025: 14.99%, the costliest provider type.
• Most expensive receiving region, Q3 2025: Sub-Saharan Africa at 8.46%.
• Mexico inflows, January to August 2026: $41,802 million, up 2.2%.
• Pakistan inflows, FY26: $41.6 billion, up 8.6%.

Global Remittance Statistics: Flows by Year

Compiled from 15 sources: 14 official publications (World Bank reports, data and price surveys, the Financial Stability Board, US Treasury and IRS rules, and the central banks of Mexico and Pakistan) and 1 news report.

• Source publication dates run from December 2024, with data through August 2026.
• Official statistics and regulator documents make up 14 of the 15; the one news report carries State Bank of Pakistan corridor data.
• Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.
• World remittances rose from $644 billion in 2017 to an estimated $905 billion in 2024.
• That is a gain of about 40.5% in seven years.
• Low- and middle-income countries received an estimated $685 billion in 2024, up from $647 billion in 2023.
• High-income countries received an estimated $219 billion in 2024.
• Developing economies took about 75.7% of world flows in 2024.
• World flows slipped to $721 billion in 2020 from $729 billion in 2019.
• A separate World Bank count puts remittances back to home countries at about $656 billion in 2023.

Source: World Bank and KNOMAD, December 2024

Worth noting: The World Bank publishes three different totals. Its December 2024 estimates fill the table above, while its World Development Indicators database, updated July 13, 2026, records $856.6 billion for 2024 and $804.2 billion for 2025. Treat the 2025 drop with caution until late reporters file.

Remittance Flows by Region

• South Asia received an estimated $207 billion in 2024, up from $185 billion in 2023.
• Flows to South Asia were expected to grow 11.8% in 2024, driven mainly by continued strong flows to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• Latin America and the Caribbean received an estimated $163 billion in 2024, up from $81 billion in 2017.
• Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean was projected to slow to 5.5% in 2024, from 7.5% a year earlier.
• East Asia and Pacific received an estimated $136 billion in 2024, of which $88 billion went to countries excluding China.
• Europe and Central Asia received an estimated $64 billion in 2024, the Middle East and North Africa $58 billion, and Sub-Saharan Africa $56 billion.

South Asia and Latin America together account for more than half of developing-country inflows. The country-level split behind these regional numbers sits in our remittance inflows country-by-country breakdown.

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Recent Developments

• Banco de México, August 2026 data: Banco de México reported August remittance inflows of $5,452 million, an annual decrease of 3.6%.
• Banco de México, August 2026 data: The same report put the January to August 2026 total at $41,802 million, above $40,903 million a year earlier.
• September 9, 2026: The State Bank of Pakistan reported August 2026 workers’ remittances of $3.7 billion, up 16.5% year on year and 0.7% month on month.
• July 13, 2026: The World Bank’s development indicators database was last updated with 2025 values for personal remittances received.
• July 9, 2026: The State Bank of Pakistan reported FY26 workers’ remittances of $41.6 billion, up from $38.3 billion in FY25.

Top Remittance-Receiving Countries

• The top five recipients among low- and middle-income countries in 2024, by estimated inflows, were India at $129 billion, Mexico at $68 billion, China at $48 billion, the Philippines at $40 billion, and Pakistan at $33 billion.
• Database figures for 2025 put Mexico at $64.4 billion and the Philippines at $41.6 billion.
• Egypt received $41.5 billion in 2025, close to Pakistan’s $40.5 billion.
• France, a high-income economy, recorded $40.4 billion in inflows.
• Bangladesh received $33.9 billion and China $30.0 billion in 2025.
• Nigeria recorded $22.8 billion in 2025.
• Guatemala had no 2025 value in the same release.

Which country receives the most remittances globally?

India receives the most. The top five recipient countries for remittances in 2024 are India, with an estimated inflow of $129 billion, followed by Mexico at $68 billion. The World Bank database puts India’s 2025 figure at $150.7 billion.

Countries Most Dependent on Remittances

• Tajikistan topped the 2024 list with remittances equal to 45% of GDP, followed by Tonga at 38%.
• Nicaragua and Lebanon each reached 27% of GDP, and Samoa 26%.
• Tajikistan’s ratio stood at 57.7% of GDP in the 2025 database figures.
• Honduras recorded 30.1% of GDP in 2025, and El Salvador 27.5%.
• Samoa’s share stood at 22.4% in 2025.
• In more than 60 countries, remittances account for 3% or more of GDP, and small or fragile states are more heavily dependent on them.

Which country is most dependent on remittances?

Tajikistan is. Topping the list is Tajikistan at 45% of GDP, followed by Tonga at 38%, based on World Bank estimates for 2024. At that scale, remittances fund a large slice of household consumption and the current account, so a slowdown in sending countries hits these economies hardest.

Remittance Growth Rates by Region

• Remittances to the Middle East and North Africa rose an estimated 5.4% in 2024, mainly on rebounded flows to Egypt, after a 14.6% decline in 2023.
• Europe and Central Asia were expected to grow 3%, bouncing back from an 8.7% decline the year before.
• Growth was estimated at 3.3% for East Asia and the Pacific excluding China and 2.4% for Sub-Saharan Africa.
• High-income countries grew an estimated 0.7% in 2024, against 6.6% in 2023.
• World remittance growth picked up to an estimated 4.2% in 2024 from 2.5% in 2023. That 4.2% is the World Bank’s stated rate; its own level estimates of $865 billion and $905 billion imply about 4.6%.

Source: World Bank and KNOMAD, December 2024

Remittance Outflows by Sending Country

• US residents paid $107.1 billion in personal remittances abroad in 2025.
• Saudi Arabia paid out $58.7 billion, a rise of about 26.0% from 2024.
• Switzerland recorded $42.7 billion in outflows.
• Germany paid $26.7 billion and France $20.8 billion.
• The United Kingdom recorded $13.2 billion, and Russia $8.9 billion.
• No 2025 value appears for the United Arab Emirates in the same release.

Saudi outflows grew far faster than US outflows in 2025. Listed operators such as Wise and Remitly publish their own volumes, collected in our money transfer industry data.

US Remittance Outflows by Year

• US outflows stood at $66.1 billion in 2020.
• They rose about 62.0% to 2025.
• Growth slowed to about 3.8% in 2025.
• Money transmitted abroad through US money services businesses equaled $236 billion in 2019, grew to almost $1 trillion in 2021 and 2022, and fell to $365 billion in 2024.
• From 2019 to 2024, these foreign remittance transfers averaged $520 billion a year.

How much does the US lose in remittances?

US residents paid $107.1 billion in personal remittances abroad in 2025, up from $103.2 billion in 2024. The money leaves the US balance of payments, but it is household income transferred abroad, not a loss to the federal budget.

Global Average Cost of Sending Remittances

• Globally, sending remittances costs an average of 6.36% of the amount sent.
• The global average has remained below 7.00% since Q1 2019, a decline of 3.31 percentage points from 9.67% in Q1 2009.
• The quarterly series hit 6.65% in Q2 2024 before easing to 6.26% in Q4 2024.
• The Global SmaRT Average held at 3.29% in Q3 2025.
• The World Bank estimates that cutting prices by at least 5 percentage points can save up to $16 billion a year.

Key finding: The Financial Stability Board’s 2025 review found that the KPIs for 2025 show only a slight improvement at the global level since the KPIs were first calculated in 2023, and it is unlikely that satisfactory improvements at the global level will be achieved in line with the 2027 Roadmap timetable. Cost is the stubborn metric.

Remittance Costs by Region

• Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send money to, at 8.46% in Q3 2025.
• The Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan region overtook South Asia as the lowest-cost receiving region, at 5.11%.
• Europe and Central Asia posted the largest decrease, from 7.94% to 6.80%.
• South Asia posted the largest increase, from 4.80% to 5.30%.
• Latin America and the Caribbean averaged 5.64% in Q3 2025, and East Asia and Pacific 5.83%.

Wallet charges can sit on top of these corridor fees, as the digital wallets with the highest transaction costs show.

Remittance Costs by Provider and Channel

• Banks remain the costliest provider type at 14.99% in Q3 2025, while money transfer operators charge 4.72% and post offices 5.58%.
• Mobile operators account for a very small share, less than 1%, of the sample.
• Digital services account for 35% of all services the survey collected in Q3 2025.
• The Digital-only MTO index fell to 3.54%, and the International MTO Index to 5.52%.
• Credit or debit cards were the lowest-cost way to send, at 4.39%, and debit cards the lowest-cost way to receive, at 3.61%.

Moving from the bank average to the digital-only MTO index cuts the average fee by about 76.4%. That is a bigger saving than moving between any two receiving regions. Growth in app-based transfers is tracked in our digital remittance market data.

Which remittance companies does the World Bank track?

Western Union and MoneyGram operate in 95% and 90% of covered corridors, and the digital-only MTO index includes five operators: Wise, Remitly, WorldRemit, InstaReM and Xoom. Listed operators such as Wise and Remitly report their own scale, as do the Wise customer and profit figures.

US 1% Remittance Tax

• The tax is already law; only its implementing Treasury rules were proposed in April 2026. As those rules describe it, the remittance transfer tax is a 1% tax on the amount of certain remittance transfers that occur after December 31, 2025, paid by the sender and collected by the provider.
• It applies only when the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or a similar physical instrument.
• For $200 and $500 transfers sent from the United States in 2025, average fees were 5.56% and 3.81%.
• Treasury and the IRS estimate that 40 to 50% of remittances move through digital platforms.
• About 3.6 million households a year have used nonbank transfer services, and 1.1 million to 1.3 million of them likely paid in cash.
• Cash-funded transfers total about $156 billion to $187 billion a year, based on data from before the tax.

Source: US Treasury and IRS proposed regulations, Federal Register, April 2026

Why it matters: Treasury and the IRS calculate that for taxable remittance transfers within the $200 to $500 range, a 1% tax rate amounts to an average 18 to 26% increase in the total remittance cost. The burden falls on cash senders.

Mexico Remittances in 2026

• Mexico received $5,452 million in August 2026, an annual decrease of 3.6%.
• August inflows came from 13.2 million transactions, with an average remittance of $412.
• The decline was the net result of a 6.4% fall in the number of transfers and a 3.0% rise in the average remittance.
• Electronic transfers carried 99.1% of January to August inflows, or $41,447 million.
• Remittances sent abroad from Mexico rose 37.8% to $126 million in August.

Source: Banco de México

Fewer transfers at a larger average size drove the August fall; one month of data cannot show whether the US tax played a part.

Pakistan Remittances in 2026

• Pakistan’s workers’ remittances reached $41.6 billion in FY26, up 8.6% from $38.3 billion in FY25.
• August 2026 inflows were $3.7 billion, up 16.5% year on year.
• Workers in Saudi Arabia sent $873.5 million in August 2026, up 19% from $737 million a year earlier.
• Remittances from the UK amounted to $563.7 million, up 22% from $463 million, and the US corridor sent $308.9 million.

Source: State Bank of Pakistan, Business Recorder, September 2026

Where can I find data on remittance statistics?

The World Bank publishes the main global series, including the Remittance Prices Worldwide cost survey. Its KNOMAD estimates and World Development Indicators database cover flows by country, while its price survey covers 367 country corridors, from 48 sending countries to 105 receiving countries. Central banks such as Banco de México and the State Bank of Pakistan publish monthly national figures.

Conclusion

World remittances reached an estimated $905 billion in 2024, and developing countries received $685 billion of it. Sending money still costs an average of 6.36%, and banks still charge 14.99%. Volume rose through 2024 while prices stay sticky, so the savings from cheaper channels reach senders with digital accounts first, while cash senders in the US now also pay the new tax.

The next test is the full-year effect of the US cash tax on Mexico and Central America. Stablecoin rails are one route senders may take around both bank fees and cash rules, and our crypto-based remittance figures follow that shift.