Egypt held the 6th position among the world’s remittance recipient countries in 2023, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said.
The agency said in a statement released on Saturday to mark the International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR), that Egypt came after India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France, according to the World Bank’s recent data.
The number of Egyptian expats hit 11.09 million until late 2023, the agency said.
It cited the bank as saying that globally, remittance flows are estimated to have increased by 3 per cent from the previous year to USD 860 billion in 2023 and are projected to grow at a nearly similar rate of 3.1 per cent in 2024.
The International Day of Family Remittances is celebrated on 16 June each year. The IDFR recognizes the crucial contribution of over 200 million migrant workers who send money to over 800 million family members in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights the resilience of migrant workers in the face of uncertainty while promoting reduced transfer costs and greater financial inclusion through remittances.
Remittances are a lifeline to the developing world and are used to pay for basic household needs, education and entrepreneurship, according to an IFAD statement. While individual remittances may be relatively small (the average remittance is US$200-US$300 a month), collectively, these flows are three times greater than global official development assistance, it said.
