2023's Top 10 Remittance Destinations

By Raulin Cadet | Published April 30, 2024 | Updated April 30, 2024 | Topics: China, USA, Remittance, France, Mexico, Migration

"Giving back is as good for you as it is for those you are helping, because giving gives you purpose. When you have a purpose-driven life, you’re a happier person."

— Goldie Hawn

A previous blog post presented the top 10 countries that paid the highest remittances in 2022. The current post considers the top 10 countries that received more remittances, in terms of US dollars, in 2023.

Definition: Remittances have been previously defined in a previous blog post; here, I emphasize that the data presented in this post are estimates, calculated based on available information. They are provided by the World Bank-KNOMAD.

The graphic in this post shows that India, the country receiving the highest amount of remittances in 2023, received nearly twice the amount received by Mexico, the country following closely behind. In fact, the amount of remittances received by India is 1.86 the amount received by Mexico. Furthermore, when considering the first nine countries following India, the differences in remittance amounts between them are not as large. 

Two of the countries showed in the graphic of the post mentioned earlier, about the top 10 that paid highest remittances in 2022, are also among the top 10 receivers in 2023: China and France. Immigration flows to United States may explain this fact. In addition, the classification of the top 10 receivers presented in the current post may also be partly influenced by immigration flows to the United States. In fact, Mexico, India and China are the top three nationalities contributing to population inflows to the United States from 2011 to 2020, according to the OECD International Migration Outlook 2023. These countries also happen to be the top three recipients of remittances.

Migration and remittances seem to go hand in hand.