Countries by Personal transfers, receipts (BoP, current US$)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

This metric measures personal transfers received by resident households from non-resident households, expressed in current US dollars. Per the source definition: 'Personal transfers are current transfers, in cash or in kind, received by resident households from non-resident households. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.' The ranking covers 166 countries, meeting the coverage threshold of 80. Of those, 157 out of 166 countries (94.6%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official. The latest data year is 2024, though 2024 figures are available for only 125 of 166 countries (75.3%), meaning a portion of rankings reflect the most recent prior year available. The World Bank indicator code is BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.

The top of the ranking is dominated by large, populous countries with substantial overseas worker populations. India leads by a wide margin at $129.43 billion (rank 1), more than double Mexico's $64.75 billion (rank 2). Pakistan ($34.66 billion, rank 3), the Philippines ($30.81 billion, rank 4), and Egypt ($29.56 billion, rank 5) follow. Bangladesh ($27.46 billion, rank 6), Guatemala ($21.45 billion, rank 7), and Nigeria ($20.98 billion, rank 8) round out the top eight. The top 10 is completed by Indonesia ($15.70 billion, rank 9) and Morocco ($12.51 billion, rank 10). Among these leading countries, the common factor is a large volume of residents working abroad who send funds back to households at home.

The middle of the ranking surfaces several notable placements. Serbia (rank 25, $5.30 billion) and Romania (rank 26, $5.29 billion) rank higher than much larger economies such as China (rank 23, $6.43 billion), which given China's population is a strikingly low figure. Germany, one of the world's largest economies by GDP, ranks 149th with only $16.23 million, lower than small Caribbean island nations such as Grenada (rank 136, $68.72 million) and St. Lucia (rank 139, $63.68 million). Kosovo (rank 57, $1.47 billion), with a small population, outranks Azerbaijan (rank 62, $1.08 billion) and Argentina (rank 68, $957.21 million), reflecting high proportional dependence on transfers from diaspora communities. At the bottom, countries including Tuvalu (rank 165, $188,527), Nauru (rank 164, $198,633), and Papua New Guinea (rank 166, $86,320) record near-negligible inflows.

Several limitations apply to this metric. Because values are in current US dollars with no inflation adjustment, comparisons across years are affected by exchange rate movements and price changes. The 2024 consistency check shows that only 75.3% of countries have data for the reference year, meaning rankings may mix data from different years. The viability check identified 22 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the range spans nearly 150 billion percent from bottom to top, indicating that a small number of countries dominate total global inflows. The metric captures only transfers to resident households from non-resident households and does not include compensation of employees or investment income. Under-reporting is likely in countries where informal transfer channels are common, which may cause some rankings to understate true inflows.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code BX.TRF.PWKR.CD, for the reference year 2024. The metric measures personal transfers received, defined as: 'Personal transfers are current transfers, in cash or in kind, received by resident households from non-resident households. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.' Rankings cover 166 countries, above the 80-country coverage threshold. Of these, 157 countries (94.6%) have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Data for the 2024 reference year are available for 125 of 166 countries (75.3%); remaining entries reflect the latest available prior year. The viability check identified 22 extreme outliers using a 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 35.3%, below the 50% volatility threshold. Values range from $86,320 (Papua New Guinea, rank 166) to $129.43 billion (India, rank 1), a spread of approximately 149,943,008%. No adjustment has been made for inflation, population size, or purchasing power.

Sources

• World Bank