Cairo, Egypt – The remittances to Egypt, the biggest recipient of such flows in the MENA region, are set to increase by 3.1 percent in 2023 followed by a decline of 1.4 percent in 2024, according to World Bank’s latest report.
Remittances to the country decreased by 10 percent year on year (YoY) to $28.3 billion in 2022, compared to a record high of $31.5 billion in the previous year. In 2020, the remittances were $29.6 billion.
Remittances to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are expected to rebound from a 3.8 percent decline in 2022 to a 1.7 percent surge in 2023 and 1.8 percent increase in 2024, the World Bank reveals. The forecast is based on an expected change in flows to Egypt.
Remittances are a crucial source of income and foreign currency in Egypt, often serving as the only financial safety net for low-income households. They provide a much-needed influx of cash to cover necessities such as food, housing, and healthcare.
Remittances, as a result, play a critical role in supporting the national economy at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels.
Egypt has risen to the fifth-highest recipient in the world for remittances as the country has diaspora is one of the largest in the world. The majority of the remittances sent by this diaspora—half of which lives in close-by Gulf Cooperation Council nations such as Saudi Arabia—go back to Egypt. Due to this, the nation has been able to surpass both Nigeria and other higher-earning nations such as India, Mexico, China, and the Philippines.