Skyrocketing remittance growth

Remittances from countries and to others reflect the increasingly intertwined nature of the global economy, and the role of migration in particular.  Since 1980 global remittances have grown on average by about 20% a year.

According to the World Bank remittances from the United States to other countries were $1.4B in 1980. That was 5% of the total $28.9B in global remittances, and the U.S. was the fifth largest source.  In 2000 remittances from the U.S. were $34.4B, or 29% of total global remittances. It was the largest source by far.  In 2017, Americans sent $67.9B.  That was 15% of the global total of $445B.

Between 2000 and 2017, several countries greatly increased their sending of remittances. Countries which sent at large remittances in 2017 were United Arab Emirates ($44B) which tripled its remittances since the mid 2000s; Switzerland ($27B) which was a major remittance source for decades; Saudi Arabia ($36B), a long time major source; and Germany ($20B), a long time major source.

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