Remittances from Egyptians abroad continued to rise on an annual basis in April, increasing 39.0% y-o-y to around USD 3 bn, according to a statement (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt. This marks 14 consecutive months of y-o-y remittance growth.

Remittances also rose to new heights in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, with Egyptians expats sending in some USD 29.4 bn during the period, up 77.1% y-o-y. Remittances sent during the period between January and April saw an increase of 72.3% y-o-y, reaching around USD 12.4 bn.

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 also brings us closer to remittance flows surpassing 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.

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