The World Bank wrote in June 2023 that global remittances in 2022 rose by 8% to $647 billion.  Due to the strong 2022 American economy, remittances to Mexico and Central American countries (which are almost entirely from the U.S) rose by more than 10%. Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are expected in 2024 to be $154 billion, double what they were in 2016.

The cost of sending a remittance remains high – 6% — vs a World Bank target of 3%.

Remittances to low and medium income countries are four times higher than official direct assistance and twice as that of direct investment. Back in the early 2000s, these flows were roughly equal.