TOP 10 Countries by Remittance Inflows per Capita (2025)
Most rankings of remittances focus on total dollars received. Here we flip the lens and look at how much money arrives per resident. This per-capita perspective highlights small economies and territories where support from migrants abroad translates into very large inflows for each person at home.
Why per-capita remittances tell a different story
On a global scale, remittances are enormous: low- and middle-income countries receive hundreds of billions of dollars each year from their diasporas. Measured in total dollars, giants like India, Mexico or China dominate the charts. However, this hides an important nuance: how much of that money is available per person in the recipient country.
When we divide inflows by population, a different group of countries climbs to the top. The 2025 Top 10 list is led by Bermuda, where remittance inflows are equivalent to roughly 31,000 USD per resident. It is followed by a mix of high-income financial hubs and small island states: Luxembourg, Faroe Islands, Tonga, New Caledonia, Samoa, Lebanon, Guyana, Cabo Verde and Iceland.
Main messages from the ranking
- Micro-economies dominate. Bermuda, Faroe Islands, Tonga and Samoa have small populations, so each dollar sent home is spread across far fewer people.
- Remittances can be macro-critical. In Tonga, Samoa, Lebanon and Cabo Verde, remittances account for more than a tenth of GDP, shaping growth, consumption and external balances.
- High-income hubs appear too. Luxembourg and Iceland receive sizeable per-capita remittances thanks to their large migrant communities, even though these flows are a tiny share of their rich economies.
Table 1. Top 10 countries by remittances per capita (USD, approx.)
Per-capita values are calculated as total annual remittance inflows divided by mid-year population. Figures are rounded and based on the latest available World Bank and KNOMAD remittance series (around 2023–2024).
| Rank | Country or territory | Remittances per capita, USD |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bermuda | ≈ 31,480 |
| 2 | Luxembourg | ≈ 3,620 |
| 3 | Faroe Islands | ≈ 2,960 |
| 4 | Tonga | ≈ 2,360 |
| 5 | New Caledonia | ≈ 2,100 |
| 6 | Samoa | ≈ 1,290 |
| 7 | Lebanon | ≈ 1,150 |
| 8 | Guyana | ≈ 660 |
| 9 | Cabo Verde | ≈ 640 |
| 10 | Iceland | ≈ 620 |
Observation. Even within the Top 10, there is a huge gap between Bermuda and the rest. For most other countries in the list, typical per-capita inflows are between 600 and 3,000 USD per person, still far above the global average.
Table 2. Remittances as % of GDP vs income level
Comparing remittances as a share of GDP with approximate GDP per capita shows how dependence on remittances differs between high- and middle-income economies.
| Country or territory | Remittances, % of GDP | GDP per capita, USD (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Tonga | ≈ 50 % | ≈ 4,200 |
| Samoa | ≈ 26 % | ≈ 4,500 |
| Lebanon | ≈ 33 % | ≈ 5,000 |
| Cabo Verde | ≈ 12 % | ≈ 4,000 |
| Bermuda | ≈ 23.7 % | ≈ 110,000 |
| Luxembourg | ≈ 2.6 % | ≈ 140,000 |
| Faroe Islands | ≈ 4.1 % | ≈ 65,000 |
| New Caledonia | ≈ 6.5 % | ≈ 38,000 |
| Guyana | ≈ 3.2 % | ≈ 11,000 |
| Iceland | ≈ 0.7 % | ≈ 80,000 |
Contrast. For high-income economies like Luxembourg, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, remittances are large per resident but very small relative to GDP. For Tonga, Samoa, Lebanon or Cabo Verde, the same flows underpin a substantial share of national income and foreign exchange.
Bar chart. Remittances per capita among the Top 10 (USD, approx.)
Each bar shows approximate annual remittance inflows per resident. The extremes highlight why per-capita analysis is crucial: Bermuda towers over other recipients, but several small island states also receive more than 2,000 USD per person.
Reading tip. Values are rounded and meant for comparative analysis rather than precise accounting. Differences in data vintages and exchange rates may shift exact rankings slightly over time.
Scatter chart. Remittances % of GDP vs GDP per capita
This scatter chart plots the Top 10 countries by two dimensions at once: remittances as a share of GDP (vertical axis) and GDP per capita in current USD (horizontal axis).
Most high-income economies (Luxembourg, Iceland, Faroe Islands) sit in the bottom-right corner: rich countries where remittances are small relative to GDP. Middle-income and lower-income island states (Tonga, Samoa, Cabo Verde) are clustered in the left-upper area, combining modest incomes with very high reliance on money sent from abroad.
Policy angle. Where remittances exceed 20 % of GDP, macroeconomic stability can be highly sensitive to shocks in migration policies, host-country labour markets or remittance fees. At the same time, these flows often finance education, housing and small business investment, making them a powerful — but volatile — development engine.
Data sources and methodology
- World Bank, Personal remittances, received (current US$) and Personal remittances, received (% of GDP) .
- KNOMAD / World Bank, Migration and Remittances database , remittance inflows by country.
- UN and World Bank population estimates for 2023–2024, used to derive per-capita remittance inflows.
- World Bank and national statistics for GDP per capita (current US$), used to position countries on the scatter chart’s horizontal axis.
- Analytical materials from the World Bank Migration and Development Briefs and Our World in Data articles on remittances, which discuss long-term trends and the role of remittances in poverty reduction.
