Expat remittances from Saudi Arabia fall 8% in 2019

Remittance outflows by expatriates in Saudi Arabia dropped, for the 4th year in a row, by 8% year-on-year (YoY) to SAR 125.5 billion in 2019, compared to SAR 136.43 billion a year earlier, data issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) showed.

Expat remittances fell during most months of 2019. The most decline was in February by 25% YoY reaching SAR 9.7 billion.

As many as 4 months witnessed an increase in expat remittance outflows led by January which saw a 6% YoY increase to SAR 11.02 billion.

Remittances sent by Saudi nationals to other countries dropped 4% YoY to SAR 58.1 billion in 2019.

 

Saudi Remittances Since 2010 (SAR bln)
Period	Value	Variation
2010	52.73	(17%)
2011	61.69	+17%
2012	69.24	+12%
2013	78.61	+14%
2014	88.57	+13%
2015	89.18	+1%
2016	59.58	(33%)
2017	65.27	+10%
2018	60.27	(8%)
2019	58.09	(4%)

 

In December, Saudi remittances grew 9% on a YoY basis to SAR 4.96 billion. 

 

Saudi Remittances (SAR bln)
Variation	2019	2018	Month
(21%)	4.91	6.18	January
(33%)	4.18	6.26	February
(32%)	4.27	6.27	March
+2%	5.06	4.94	April
+5%	6.21	5.93	May
+2%	3.51	3.44	June
+20%	5.43	4.52	July
+6%	3.90	3.69	August
(5%)	4.53	4.78	September
+5%	5.19	4.94	October
+24%	5.95	4.81	November
+9%	4.96	4.53	December