Who Were the Largest Remittance Recipients in the World in 2020?

In a joint report by KNOMAD and the World Bank, India was the largest recipient of remittances globally in 2020. India received US$83.1 billion in remittances, equivalent to Rp1,188.3 trillion at an exchange rate of Rp14,300 per US dollar.

China and Mexico followed, receiving US$59.5 billion and US$42.9 billion in remittances respectively last year. The Philippines was next, with remittance inflows of US$34.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's remittance inflows shrank by 17.3% in 2020. This was mainly due to a decline in remittances from Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to Indonesia, falling by 21.3% and 16.8% respectively. As a result, Indonesia only received US$9.7 billion in remittances last year.

Indonesia's position was above Guatemala and Russia, which received US$11.4 billion and US$9.8 billion in remittances respectively.

Overall, remittance flows were considered resilient during the Covid-19 crisis, experiencing only a 1.6% decline year-on-year, from US$548 billion in 2019 to US$540 billion in 2020. Outside of China, remittances in various countries originated from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Official Development Assistance.