Remittances from Egyptians abroad continue to rise in March, reaching USD 3.4 bn

Remittances from Egyptians residing abroad continued their steady rise in March, increasing 63.7% y-o-y to around USD 3.4 bn, according to a statement (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt. This marks the thirteenth consecutive month of y-o-y remittance growth.

Remittances reached a record high in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, with Egyptians abroad sending in some USD 26.4 bn, up 82.7% y-o-y. In 3Q FY 2024-2025, remittances saw a y-o-y increase of 86.6%, reaching around USD 9.4 bn.

“March’s figures were strong, and they imply a 13% m-o-m increase compared to February’s USD 3 bn,” HC Securities’ Nemat Choucri told EnterpriseAM.

REMEMBER- Remittance inflows began to return to official channels after the float of the EGP back in March 2024, which effectively put an end to the parallel market that had pushed remittance flows to unofficial channels. Remittances are expected to continue their upward trajectory throughout the year, with Morgan Stanley forecasting USD 32 bn in inflows during the current fiscal year.

This could also be the year remittance flows surpass their pre-FX crisis peak. Last fiscal year saw remittances hitting only USD 22.1 bn — as the parallel market pushed remittance flows to unofficial channels — down from a USD 31.4 bn peak in FY 2020-2021.

Money sent from abroad is expected to have made up around 8% of the country’s entireGDP in 2024, up from 5% in 2023 and 6.1% in 2022. In terms of current account inflows, remittances from Egyptian expats are expected to have accounted for 35% of inflows in 2024, up from the 25% recorded the year prior, but still a long way off from the 45% recorded in 2020.