Tracking the Flow of Cross-Border Payments Around the World
Overseas workers are bouncing back from the pandemic and sending more remittances then ever
Pedestrians walk past a currency exchange store in Hong Kong, China, in March 2017. Money is increasingly being transferred online.
Photographer: Anthony Kwan/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The flow of money across borders is quickly growing, often changing and impossible to fully track.
The best guess comes from the World Bank, which estimates that about $630 billion was sent in remittances to low- and middle-income nations in 2022, roughly equaling foreign direct investment in those countries. The sum represents a rise of almost 5%, with economies rebounding from Covid-19 and overseas workers — along with a rising number of refugees — sending more money home.