Remittances from Egyptians abroad saw a substantial rise in May, climbing 24.2% y-o-y to reach about USD 3.4 bn, marking the highest figure ever recorded in May, according to a statement (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt. This marks 15 consecutive months of y-o-y remittance growth.

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Remittances sent between July 2024 and May 2025 rose 69.6% y-o-y to reach USD 32.8 bn. Similarly, remittances from Egyptian expats during the period between January and May 2025 jumped 59% y-o-y to hit USD 15.8 bn.

REMEMBER- Remittance inflows began returning 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 2024-2025 fiscal year.

This also brings us closer to remittance flows surpassing their pre-FX crisis peak. Remittances hit only USD 22.1 bn in FY 2023-2024 — as the parallel market pushed remittance flows to unofficial channels — down from a USD 31.4 bn peak in FY 2020-2021.

Our GDP is heavily influenced by remittances volume: Money sent from abroad is expected to have made up around 8% of the country’s entire GDP 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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