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Remittances

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What you should know about this indicator

  • Remittances include personal transfers sent by migrants to their home countries as well as compensation of workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident. This includes temporary migrant workers (e.g. seasonal workers working in another country) and residents of the country employed by foreign employers (such as embassies or transnational companies).
  • This chart shows the share of GDP that is made up of the sum of all remittances sent to this country. If this share is high, it means that remittances are an important source of income in this country.

How is this data described by its producer?

Personal remittances comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfers consist of all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from nonresident households. Personal transfers thus include all current transfers between resident and nonresident individuals. Compensation of employees refers to the income of border, seasonal, and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident and of residents employed by nonresident entities. Data are the sum of two items defined in the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual: personal transfers and compensation of employees.

Aggregation method:

Weighted average

Statistical concept and methodology:

Methodology: The Balance of Payments (BOP) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) serves as the primary source of information for personal transfers, which are categorized under secondary income, and for the compensation of employees, classified as primary income of the current account. Depending on data availability, references may be made to quarterly or annual figures.

Information from government agencies such as central banks and national statistical offices further complements the BOP data. When countries have missing data for certain years, this is addressed using methods like Last Observation Carried Forward (LOCF) and Next Observation Carried Backward (NOCB). If disaggregated data is unavailable, estimates are created based on historical ratios and trends.

The data is presented as a percentage of "GDP (current US$)" (NY.GDP.MKTP.CD), which is sourced from the World Bank's national accounts data and the OECD National Accounts data files.

Other notes:

Note: Data starting from 2005 are based on the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6).

Source
World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
July 27, 2026
Next expected update
January 2027
Date range
1970–2025
Unit
% of GDP

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data – World Development Indicators

The World Development Indicators (WDI) database, published by the World Bank, is a comprehensive collection of global development data, providing key economic, social, and environmental statistics. It includes over 1,500 indicators covering more than 200 countries and territories, with data spanning several decades. WDI serves as a vital resource for policymakers, researchers, businesses, and analysts seeking to understand global trends and make data-driven decisions. The database covers a wide range of topics, including economic growth, education, health, poverty, trade, energy, infrastructure, governance, and environmental sustainability. The indicators are sourced from reputable national and international agencies, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and comparable data. Users can access the database through interactive online tools, API services, and downloadable datasets, facilitating detailed analysis and visualization. WDI is also used for tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global development initiatives. By providing accessible and reliable statistics, it helps to inform policy discussions and strategies globally. Whether for academic research, policy planning, or economic analysis, the World Development Indicators database is an essential tool for understanding and addressing global development challenges.

Retrieved on
July 27, 2026
Retrieved from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Staff estimates, World Bank (WB);
IMF balance of payments data, International Monetary Fund (IMF);
World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB);
OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Indicator BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS). World Development Indicators - World Bank (2026). Accessed on 2026-07-27.

The World Development Indicators (WDI) database, published by the World Bank, is a comprehensive collection of global development data, providing key economic, social, and environmental statistics. It includes over 1,500 indicators covering more than 200 countries and territories, with data spanning several decades. WDI serves as a vital resource for policymakers, researchers, businesses, and analysts seeking to understand global trends and make data-driven decisions. The database covers a wide range of topics, including economic growth, education, health, poverty, trade, energy, infrastructure, governance, and environmental sustainability. The indicators are sourced from reputable national and international agencies, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and comparable data. Users can access the database through interactive online tools, API services, and downloadable datasets, facilitating detailed analysis and visualization. WDI is also used for tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global development initiatives. By providing accessible and reliable statistics, it helps to inform policy discussions and strategies globally. Whether for academic research, policy planning, or economic analysis, the World Development Indicators database is an essential tool for understanding and addressing global development challenges.

Retrieved on
July 27, 2026
Retrieved from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
Staff estimates, World Bank (WB);
IMF balance of payments data, International Monetary Fund (IMF);
World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB);
OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Indicator BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS). World Development Indicators - World Bank (2026). Accessed on 2026-07-27.

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All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Remittances as a share of GDP”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260813-133906/grapher/remittances.html [online resource] (archived on August 13, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data (2026) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. “Remittances as a share of GDP” [dataset]. World Bank staff estimates based on IMF and OECD data, “World Development Indicators 129” [original data]. Retrieved August 13, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260813-133906/grapher/remittances.html (archived on August 13, 2026).

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