Money sent home by Africans working abroad is one of the continent's most stable and resilient sources of external finance, often exceeding foreign direct investment and proving far less volatile than aid. This map looks beyond raw dollar volumes to ask a more revealing question: how much does the diaspora actually contribute to each country's economy?
What the data shows:
43 of 54 African countries have remittance data; 10 remain unknown due to limited financial reporting infrastructure
Remittance contributions range from 0.05% of GDP (Angola) to 23% (Comoros)
Africa's largest recipients by volume: Egypt ($29.6B), Nigeria ($21.3B), Morocco ($12.5B), Kenya ($5.0B), Zimbabwe ($3.5B)
Where remittances are most transformational:
Comoros (23%), Gambia (22%), Liberia (21%), and Lesotho (21%) each exceed 20% of GDP; diaspora flows here are a structural pillar of the economy, not a supplement
Cabo Verde (12%) and Senegal (11%) reflect deep, multigenerational emigration ties to Europe
Volume of remittance vs. remittance contribution to GDP:
Nigeria and Egypt dominate in absolute dollars but sit in the Moderate tier (5–10% of GDP) due to large economies
Zimbabwe (8.5%) stands out in Southern Africa, decades of emigration have built a diaspora that contributes nearly a tenth of national income
Kenya and Ghana are the fastest growing corridors: +23% and +42% respectively between 2022 and 2024
Where contribution is minimal:
South Africa (0.21%), Algeria (0.67%), and Angola (0.05%) show the lowest contributions, largely a function of large formal economies rather than small diaspora flows
Angola's figure is strikingly low and may reflect underreporting through informal channels
Data Table
Country | Remittances Received (USD Million) | YoY Change | GDP & % of GDP | Ref Year | |||||
Country | Code | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | YoY Change % | YoY Period | GDP (USD Million) | % of GDP | Reference Year |
Comoros | COM | 281.84 | 305.58 | +8.42% | 2022->2023 | 1,326.84 | 23.03% | 2023 | |
Gambia, The | GMB | 501.84 | 514.91 | 529.05 | +2.75% | 2023->2024 | 2,404.89 | 22.00% | 2024 |
Liberia | LBR | 876.69 | 950.21 | 1,016.84 | +7.01% | 2023->2024 | 4,779.30 | 21.28% | 2024 |
Lesotho | LSO | 532.60 | 479.75 | 475.82 | -0.82% | 2023->2024 | 2,271.76 | 20.94% | 2024 |
South Sudan | SSD | 267.30 | 1,175.43 | +339.74% | 2022->2023 | 7,401.00 | 15.88% | 2023 | |
Cabo Verde | CPV | 315.28 | 316.38 | 333.99 | +5.57% | 2023->2024 | 2,725.41 | 12.25% | 2024 |
Senegal | SEN | 2,910.59 | 3,267.14 | +12.25% | 2022->2023 | 30,696.33 | 10.64% | 2023 | |
Guinea-Bissau | GNB | 190.21 | 204.38 | 217.18 | +6.26% | 2023->2024 | 2,218.39 | 9.79% | 2024 |
Sao Tome and Principe | STP | 102.05 | 97.71 | 80.14 | -17.98% | 2023->2024 | 822.15 | 9.75% | 2024 |
Zimbabwe | ZWE | 3,085.04 | 3,301.27 | 3,509.90 | +6.32% | 2023->2024 | 41,539.41 | 8.45% | 2024 |
Nigeria | NGA | 20,127.61 | 19,549.55 | 21,292.96 | +8.92% | 2023->2024 | 252,261.88 | 8.44% | 2024 |
Morocco | MAR | 11,170.42 | 11,749.60 | 12,510.94 | +6.48% | 2023->2024 | 160,610.99 | 7.79% | 2024 |
Burundi | BDI | 163.44 | 195.68 | 236.89 | +21.06% | 2023->2024 | 3,082.43 | 7.69% | 2024 |
Egypt, Arab Rep. | EGY | 28,332.80 | 19,532.10 | 29,559.10 | +51.34% | 2023->2024 | 389,059.91 | 7.60% | 2024 |
Tunisia | TUN | 2,806.55 | 2,872.13 | 3,256.97 | +13.40% | 2023->2024 | 51,332.29 | 6.34% | 2024 |
Ethiopia | ETH | 510.20 | 539.36 | 7,137.69 | +1223.36% | 2023->2024 | 149,740.30 | 4.77% | 2024 |
Sierra Leone | SLE | 291.17 | 293.00 | 320.83 | +9.50% | 2023->2024 | 6,971.13 | 4.60% | 2024 |
Kenya | KEN | 4,059.71 | 4,227.61 | 4,999.83 | +18.27% | 2023->2024 | 120,339.56 | 4.15% | 2024 |
Mali | MLI | 1,106.99 | 1,045.13 | 1,068.94 | +2.28% | 2023->2024 | 26,794.75 | 3.99% | 2024 |
Ghana | GHA | 2,128.09 | 2,454.34 | 3,027.42 | +23.35% | 2023->2024 | 82,308.11 | 3.68% | 2024 |
Rwanda | RWA | 474.16 | 518.06 | 517.04 | -0.20% | 2023->2024 | 14,251.64 | 3.63% | 2024 |
Niger | NER | 725.24 | 623.84 | 650.39 | +4.25% | 2023->2024 | 19,876.13 | 3.27% | 2024 |
Burkina Faso | BFA | 523.91 | 584.39 | +11.54% | 2022->2023 | 20,112.61 | 2.91% | 2023 | |
Sudan | SDN | 1,499.43 | 51,666.88 | 2.90% | 2022 | ||||
Congo, Dem. Rep. | COD | 3,261.88 | 3,298.27 | 2,000.74 | -39.34% | 2023->2024 | 70,962.19 | 2.82% | 2024 |
Uganda | UGA | 1,250.38 | 1,513.80 | 1,429.42 | -5.57% | 2023->2024 | 53,911.91 | 2.65% | 2024 |
Guinea | GIN | 527.28 | 496.84 | 616.42 | +24.07% | 2023->2024 | 25,008.68 | 2.46% | 2024 |
Madagascar | MDG | 385.29 | 311.45 | 406.26 | +30.44% | 2023->2024 | 17,420.50 | 2.33% | 2024 |
Cote d'Ivoire | CIV | 1,041.93 | 1,311.09 | 1,770.77 | +35.06% | 2023->2024 | 87,113.18 | 2.03% | 2024 |
Mauritius | MUS | 273.84 | 315.38 | 286.87 | -9.04% | 2023->2024 | 14,937.86 | 1.92% | 2024 |
Benin | BEN | 250.41 | 338.54 | +35.20% | 2022->2023 | 19,673.29 | 1.72% | 2023 | |
Malawi | MWI | 264.34 | 180.79 | 186.77 | +3.31% | 2023->2024 | 11,316.41 | 1.65% | 2024 |
Tanzania | TZA | 703.75 | 1,237.90 | 1,123.26 | -9.26% | 2023->2024 | 78,844.41 | 1.42% | 2024 |
Djibouti | DJI | 56.56 | 58.59 | 56.00 | -4.43% | 2023->2024 | 4,152.15 | 1.35% | 2024 |
Zambia | ZMB | 243.49 | 245.69 | 334.31 | +36.07% | 2023->2024 | 25,303.19 | 1.32% | 2024 |
Cameroon | CMR | 562.66 | 786.56 | 690.15 | -12.26% | 2023->2024 | 53,296.69 | 1.29% | 2024 |
Mozambique | MOZ | 166.20 | 254.63 | 266.91 | +4.82% | 2023->2024 | 22,745.34 | 1.17% | 2024 |
Mauritania | MRT | 109.29 | 167.74 | 94.54 | -43.64% | 2023->2024 | 10,908.05 | 0.87% | 2024 |
Namibia | NAM | 71.11 | 83.87 | 96.50 | +15.06% | 2023->2024 | 13,372.35 | 0.72% | 2024 |
Eswatini | SWZ | 126.48 | 79.95 | 33.35 | -58.29% | 2023->2024 | 4,858.89 | 0.69% | 2024 |
Algeria | DZA | 1,704.71 | 1,867.55 | 1,798.92 | -3.68% | 2023->2024 | 269,322.28 | 0.67% | 2024 |
Botswana | BWA | 62.24 | 70.03 | 128.30 | +83.22% | 2023->2024 | 19,402.06 | 0.66% | 2024 |
South Africa | ZAF | 872.86 | 803.39 | 855.37 | +6.47% | 2023->2024 | 401,145.00 | 0.21% | 2024 |
Angola | AGO | 14.01 | 12.07 | 51.04 | +322.98% | 2023->2024 | 100,998.92 | 0.05% | 2024 |
Central African Republic | CAF | ||||||||
Chad | TCD | ||||||||
Congo, Rep. | COG | ||||||||
Equatorial Guinea | GNQ | ||||||||
Eritrea | ERI | ||||||||
Gabon | GAB | ||||||||
Libya | LBY | ||||||||
Somalia, Fed. Rep. | SOM | ||||||||
Togo | TGO | ||||||||
SOURCES & METHODOLOGY:
Primary Data Sources:
Remittances: World Bank WDI, Personal Remittances, Received (BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT). Extracted November 2025. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT
GDP: World Bank WDI, GDP Current USD (NY.GDP.MKTP.CD). Extracted November 2025. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
License: CC BY-4.0
What the Indicator Measures:
Personal remittances comprise two components, both recorded in the current account under the IMF Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6):
Personal Transfers: All cash or in-kind transfers between resident and non-resident individuals, regardless of income source or household relationship. This is a broader definition than the older "workers' remittances" concept
Compensation of Employees: gross income of border, seasonal, and short-term workers employed outside their country of residence, including wages, salaries in kind, and employer social contributions
How the World Bank Compiles the Data:
Primary source is IMF Balance of Payments Statistics, supplemented by World Bank staff estimates where IMF data is incomplete. Countries collect remittance data through transaction reporting systems, household surveys, and model-based estimation, combining direct measurement where feasible with statistical models to capture informal flows. GDP is gathered annually from central banks and national statistics offices through the World Bank's country economist network. All data from 2005 onwards follows BPM6 standards.
Our Calculation:
Remittance Contribution to GDP (%) = (Personal Remittances Received USD ÷ GDP Current USD) × 100, using matched years per country. Primary reference year is 2024 (38 countries); 2023 for Benin, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Senegal, and South Sudan; 2022 for Sudan. Reference year per country is disclosed in the data table.
LIMITATIONS:
Coverage: 43 of 54 countries (80%) have data. 10 countries are unknown; gaps reflect weak statistical capacity, informality, or conflict rather than absence of flows
Informal channels excluded: Hawala networks, cash transfers and unregistered mobile money are not captured, World Bank estimates informal flows add 30–50% in some corridors
Nigeria GDP rebasing: Nigeria's 2024 GDP was statistically revised downward, inflating the remittance-to-GDP ratio to ~8.4% vs. a more representative ~3–4% in prior years
Ethiopia anomaly: Ethiopia's 2024 figure ($7.1B vs. $539M in 2023) reflects a likely reclassification in World Bank reporting, not actual flow growth
Temporal mix: 2024 data for 38 countries, 2023 for 4, 2022 for Sudan, not a single-year snapshot; reference years disclosed in data table
National averages mask local reality: Remittances are heavily concentrated within countries, community and household-level importance far exceeds national GDP percentages
Analysis Date: May 2026 | Primary Reference Year: 2024 | Analyst: Les Africanistes