Remittance Dependence by Country 2024

About This Dataset

This chart ranks countries by personal remittances received as a share of GDP in 2024, showing which economies depend most heavily on money sent home by citizens working abroad rather than on domestic production.

✨ AI Insight

Tajikistan leads with remittances equal to 47.2% of GDP, meaning nearly half its entire economy is money earned by citizens working abroad, mostly in Russia. Tonga follows on 39.2%, and every country listed exceeds 21%. This ranking is the mirror image of the absolute totals: India receives the most money in the world yet remittances are a small fraction of its GDP, while none of these ten appear among the largest recipients by value. Small island and landlocked states dominate, with Tonga, Samoa and the Marshall Islands representing the Pacific and Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador Central America. Such dependence is a double-edged sword, cushioning poverty but leaving economies exposed to recessions in a single host country.

Source: World Bank (IMF Balance of Payments)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Tajikistan leads with 47 in 2024.

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Average value in 2024: 28 · median: 25.

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Gap in 2024: Tajikistan is 2.2× larger than Liberia.