Gulf Cooperation Council countries collectively recorded the world’s highest value of outward workers’ remittances in 2025, totaling approximately $161 billion, according to the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf, or GCC-Stat.
The figure represented growth of 13.6 percent from 2024 and an increase of approximately $19 billion.
The report said workers’ remittances from GCC countries rose for the second consecutive year, following a decline in 2023, reaching their highest level in 2025.
The increase came amid the continued attraction of expatriate workers and the expansion of economic activities linked to infrastructure projects, services, industry and non-oil sectors.
Workers’ remittances as a share of GCC countries’ gross domestic product stood at approximately 6.6 percent in 2025, compared with 6.0 percent in 2024, 5.7 percent in 2023 and 5.6 percent in 2022.
GCC-Stat said the ratio reflected the relative weight of workers’ remittances compared with the size of GCC economies and did not itself indicate an improvement or deterioration in economic performance.
The GCC’s global position was also highlighted by comparisons with individual major economies. Outward workers’ remittances from the United States stood at approximately $107 billion, compared with $43 billion from Switzerland, $27 billion from Germany and $21 billion from France.
The report said remittances support household incomes, consumption and economic and social stability in recipient countries.
They also reflect the GCC’s regional economic weight, its role in global financial flows and its links to the global economy.
