Remittances

The number of international migrants grew to 281 million in 2020; 3.6% of the world’s people lived outside their country of birth that year.

El Salvador experienced a 40% drop in remittances in April 2020 compared with April 2019, the largest decline among the six nations analyzed.

Remittances – money sent by migrants to their home countries – are projected to fall by a record 20% this year.

Money sent by immigrants to their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa reached a record $41 billion in 2017.

Worldwide, an estimated $625 billion (USD) was sent by migrants to individuals in their home countries in 2017, a 7% increase from 2016, when the amount was $586 billion, according to economists at the World Bank. This increase follows two consecutive years of decline.

For five countries – Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Tajikistan and Liberia – remittances from citizens abroad are equivalent to at least a quarter of GDP.

Remittance flows decreased worldwide for a second consecutive year in 2016, the first back-to-back decline in over three decades. Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean, however, rose to a record high.

The U.S. has more foreign students enrolled in its colleges and universities than any other country in the world. Explore data about foreign students in the U.S. higher education system.

Worldwide, an estimated $582 billion was sent by migrants to relatives in their home countries in 2015, a 2% decline from 2014.