Food & water
Global Remittances Hit $728 billion in 2025, Powering Food, Shelter and Rural Investment
Migrants transferred $728.6 billion to families in low‑ and middle‑income countries in 2025, almost doubling a decade‑old total and shaping daily survival and rural development worldwide.
Scale of the Money Flow
The International Fund for Agricultural Development reports that migrants sent $728.6 billion home in 2025, a rise of about 94 percent since 2016 and nearly double the amount recorded ten years earlier. This surge outpaces the 28 percent increase in the number of migrants, showing that each migrant is sending larger sums on average. Around 220 million migrants and diaspora members support an estimated 1.1 billion relatives, with typical transfers of $300‑$400 sent nine or ten times a year. The total now exceeds four times global official development assistance and also surpasses foreign direct investment to the same group of countries.
Regional Reliance and Economic Risks
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the fastest growth, with remittances rising 132 percent to $168.6 billion in 2025. In Central America the money is especially critical, representing roughly 30 percent of Honduras’s GDP, 28 percent of El Salvador’s and 27 percent of Nicaragua’s. The United States remains the dominant source for the region, making households vulnerable to policy shifts such as deportations or tighter employment rules. While current data do not yet show a decline, the report warns that any reduction in migrant earnings could quickly erode household income, especially where returnees have been primary earners – 61 percent of surveyed Guatemalan returnees reported being the main income earner.
Spending Patterns and Digital Gaps
About three quarters of all remittance receipts fund immediate needs such as food, shelter and utilities, while the remaining quarter—over $180 billion annually—supports health care, education, housing, savings and business activities. Roughly one in three dollars sent home reaches rural economies, amounting to $233 billion in 2025, and households invest an estimated $22 billion each year in agrifood systems. More than half of transfers now begin digitally, yet only 35 percent of services are fully digital from sender to recipient. Digital transactions cost around 4.6 percent, compared with 7.3 percent for cash‑based services, highlighting the need for cheaper, more transparent mechanisms.