Colombians abroad now send home more than foreigners invest
Personal remittances received vs net foreign direct investment inflows, Colombia, US$ billions, 2005–2025.
- 1. Mexico, not China, now sells America the most goods
- 2. China's ASEAN trade is now almost double its US trade
- 3. Central banks now hold more gold than Treasuries or euros
- 4. China now pays the world mostly in yuan
- 5. Migrants now send home four times all foreign aid
- 6. Tether now holds more US Treasuries than the UAE
- 7. Developing countries' interest bill has nearly tripled since 2010
- 8. America's duty-free parcels grew almost tenfold in nine years
- 9. Poles edge past the Japanese in income per person
- 10. In dollars, Nigeria's economy has more than halved since 2014
- 11. Argentina's monthly inflation fell from 25.5% to 1.9%
- 12. Guyana now produces more per person than America
- 13. Mexico's factories now outproduce Britain's and France's
- 14. Ukraine received four times the aid of any other country
- 15. The UAE sold more goods abroad than France in 2025
- 16. Singapore now draws twice as much foreign investment as China
- 17. The EU now buys more US gas than Russian gas
- 18. Malaysia again sells more to America than to China
- 19. 22 governments now owe more than a year's national output
- 20. Brazil mines 93% of the world's niobium
- 21. More Vietnamese now work in industry than on farms
- 22. Money sent home to Guatemala nearly quadrupled in ten years
- 23. In purchasing power, Russia's economy is now bigger than Japan's
- 24. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
- 25. Factories now make more of Cambodia's economy than China's
- 26. China now buys more from Brazil than from Germany
- 27. Kazakhstan now sells Russia more than Germany does
- 28. China fell to third among America's suppliers in 2025
- 29. Colombians abroad now send home more than foreigners invest
- 30. 72 countries now pay China more than it lends them
Money Colombians abroad sent home in 2025, up 84% from $7.1 bn in 2019.
Net foreign direct investment into Colombia in 2025, down from $17.2 bn in 2022. It was the larger flow every year from 2005 to 2024.
The first year since 2004 that family money beat investors' money: Colombia's dollars now lean on its people abroad.
the numbers & method
| Year | Remittances (bn) | Foreign investment (bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 3.4 | 10.2 |
| 2006 | 3.9 | 6.8 |
| 2007 | 4.5 | 8.9 |
| 2008 | 4.8 | 10.6 |
| 2009 | 4.1 | 8.0 |
| 2010 | 4.0 | 6.4 |
| 2011 | 4.1 | 14.7 |
| 2012 | 4.0 | 15.0 |
| 2013 | 4.5 | 16.2 |
| 2014 | 4.2 | 16.2 |
| 2015 | 5.0 | 11.6 |
| 2016 | 5.2 | 13.9 |
| 2017 | 5.8 | 13.7 |
| 2018 | 6.7 | 11.3 |
| 2019 | 7.1 | 14.0 |
| 2020 | 6.9 | 7.5 |
| 2021 | 8.6 | 9.6 |
| 2022 | 9.5 | 17.2 |
| 2023 | 10.1 | 16.8 |
| 2024 | 11.9 | 13.7 |
| 2025 | 13.1 | 11.6 |
Claim types Fact · Interpretation
World Bank, World Development Indicators (last updated 8 Oct 2026), read from the World Bank API: personal remittances received, current US$ (BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT) and foreign direct investment, net inflows, balance of payments, current US$ (BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD), Colombia, 2005–2025. US$ billions, rounded to two decimals. Remittances vs FDI: 2005 3.35 vs 10.24; 2015 5.00 vs 11.62; 2019 7.12 vs 13.99; 2020 6.92 vs 7.46 (closest year before the cross); 2022 9.45 vs 17.18; 2023 10.11 vs 16.79; 2024 11.87 vs 13.68; 2025 13.13 vs 11.57. FDI was larger in every year from 2005 to 2024. Remittances were last larger in 2002–2004 (2002 2.48 vs 2.13; 2003 3.08 vs 1.72; 2004 3.19 vs 3.12, same series); 2025 is the first time since. 2025 balance-of-payments figures are recent and can be revised. FDI net inflows are net of disinvestment and swing with single deals and reinvested earnings. The plate describes the two flows side by side and claims no cause. Takeaway 3's reading is an interpretation. Licence: World Bank, CC BY 4.0.
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