Over the past two decades, global remittances have grown significantly. India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the top five recipients of remittances in 2023, according to data from the World Bank.

African countries recorded more than $90-billion in remittances last year, with Egypt ranked as the seventh largest recipient worldwide, and Nigeria ninth.

Remittances are increasingly recognised as important for economic development, with the UN identifying them as key to achieving its Sustainable Development Goals. Countries are developing policies to encourage remittances, which support households and local economies.

The growth reflects not only how much easier technology and mobile money has made sending money ‘back home’, but also suggests a growing focus on remit data. Although the World Bank’s figures, based on the IMF’s balance of payments guidelines, offer a window into global transfers, informal channels remain unaccounted for, suggesting the true scale of remittances may be even larger.

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