A recent World Bank report on remittances worldwide in 2022 noted that workers in Kuwait remitted over US$17.7 billion in 2022, making remittances from the country the sixth highest in the world and the second highest among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. There has been a steady increase in remittance from Kuwait following the dip during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Saudi Arabia, which led the region with remittances of more than $39 billion, was also the second highest remittance spot in the world after the United States, which continued to lead the world in terms of worker remittances at US$79 billion. The World Bank report added that official remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are expected to increase by 1.4 percent to $656 billion in 2023.
India continued to be the largest recipient of global remittances at $111 billion in 2022, followed by Mexico with $61 billion, China with $51 billion, the Philippines with around $38 billion, France with $30 billion and Pakistan with $30 billion. On the other hand, Egypt ranked seventh in the world and first in the Arab world as the highest receiving country with over $28 billion in remittance receipts.
The World Bank report also highlighted that global remittances surged in 2022 due to oil price hike in the GCC countries with their large migrant populations, as well as due to large financial transfers from the Russian Federation to Central Asia, and the strength of the US labor markets.
In addition, the report revealed an increase in remittance flow of 0.7 percent in East Asia and the Pacific, 19 percent in Europe and Central Asia, 11.3 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 12.2 percent in South Asia, and 6.1 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, while remittance flows decreased by 3.8 percent to the Middle East and North Africa.
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