plate 044 · Economy · 2025 data
Migrants now send home four times more than all foreign aid
Remittances to low- and middle-income countries vs total aid from rich donors, US$ billion.
$729bn
Migrants sent $729 billion home to developing countries in 2025, up 67% since 2016.
−23%
Rich-country aid fell 23% in real terms in 2025, to $174 billion.
10×
Egypt received $36.5bn in remittances in FY2024/25, ten times its Suez Canal revenue.
Source
World Bank/KNOMAD Migration and Development Briefs; IFAD Sending Money Home 2026; OECD DAC preliminary ODA 2025 ·Data 2025 ·Fact
the numbers
| Year | Remittances (bn) | Foreign aid (DAC) (bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 435 | |
| 2017 | 475 | |
| 2018 | 522 | |
| 2019 | 548 | |
| 2020 | 542 | |
| 2021 | 601 | |
| 2022 | 651 | |
| 2023 | 647 | |
| 2024 | 685 | 215 |
| 2025 | 729 | 174 |
source notes & method
2025 remittances from IFAD. Aid = total DAC donor ODA (not aid received by developing countries only). Egypt figures from the Central Bank of Egypt (fiscal year Jul–Jun).
Published 27 Oct 2026
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