How Much Does Pakistan Receive in Remittances Each Year?
The official figure, the hawala-adjusted figure, and what the trend actually means
Pakistan received approximately $38.5 billion in formal remittances in fiscal year 2024-25. Including informal hawala channels, the actual flow may be $50 to $60 billion. Remittances now account for around 8 to 10 percent of Pakistan's GDP and are 5 times larger than total foreign direct investment inflows.
This piece sits inside the Why Pakistan's Remittance Economy Is a Development Trap cluster, under the broader Pakistan Brain Drain: The Graveyard of Remittancers pillar.
The headline figure
State Bank of Pakistan data for FY 2024-25:
- Total formal remittances: ~$38.5 billion
- March 2025 (record month): $4.1 billion
- June 2025: $3.41 billion
- Of June 2025: Saudi Arabia $823.2 million, UAE $717.2 million
That works out to a monthly average of around $3.2 billion, with seasonal spikes (Eid, Ramadan, year-end) pushing some months past $4 billion.
How that compares to the rest of Pakistan's foreign exchange
| Source of foreign exchange | FY 2024-25 (approx) | Multiple of remittances |
|---|---|---|
| Remittances | $38.5 billion | 1.0x (baseline) |
| Total goods exports | ~$32 billion | 0.83x |
| Foreign Direct Investment | ~$2 billion | 0.05x |
| IMF disbursement (annual avg recent) | ~$1.5 billion | 0.04x |
Remittances are larger than Pakistan's entire goods export bill. They are ~20x the size of FDI. They are the country's single largest reliable source of dollars.
That sounds like a strength. It is actually a structural vulnerability , a country whose foreign exchange depends on labour export rather than goods export. I have written the longer argument at Why Pakistan's Remittance Economy Is a Development Trap.
How that compares to other countries
| Country | Remittances as % of GDP (2024) |
|---|---|
| Tajikistan | 47.9% |
| Lebanon | 38% |
| Nepal | 33% |
| Pakistan | ~10% |
| Philippines | 9% |
| Global average | 0.82% |
Pakistan is around 12 times the global average for remittance dependency. Every other country at this level of dependency is either stagnant, currency-collapsed, or in crisis.
The hawala adjustment
The IMF and World Bank have estimated that informal remittance flows may add 30 to 50 percent on top of the formal banking-channel figures. A 2010 World Bank "Migration and Remittances Fact Book" stated: "Total remittances could be as much as 50 percent higher than the official record."
For Pakistan, that means the actual remittance flow may be:
- Formal: $38.5 billion
- Hawala: $15 to 20 billion (estimate)
- Total real flow: $50 to 60 billion
Hawala dollars do not show up in State Bank data. They flow in cash, often directly into real estate (cash-friendly transactions), worsening the housing inflation problem and starving the formal banking sector of foreign exchange. I have written the longer explainer at What Is Hawala and How Much Pakistani Remittance Is Off the Books.
Where the dollars come from
Country breakdown of formal remittances, recent years:
| Source country | Approximate annual share |
|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | $8 to 10 billion |
| United Arab Emirates | $7 to 8 billion |
| United Kingdom | $5 to 6 billion |
| United States | $3 to 4 billion |
| Other Gulf (Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain) | $4 to 5 billion |
| EU + rest of world | $4 to 5 billion |
The Gulf accounts for roughly half. The Western anglosphere (UK, US, Canada, Australia) accounts for another large share. Together these two regions explain 80%+ of formal remittance inflows.
The trend over time
Pakistan's remittance trajectory has been one of nearly continuous growth, with shocks during global financial crises. Key inflection points:
- 2001: Remittances ~$1 billion
- 2010: ~$8 billion
- 2018: ~$20 billion
- 2022: $31 billion
- 2024-25: $38.5 billion
This growth has paralleled , and been driven by , the acceleration of Pakistani emigration. 762,499 Pakistanis registered for overseas work in 2025 alone. The remittance number cannot grow without the emigration number growing first.
Every record remittance month is a record emigration month a year or two earlier. The two numbers are joined at the hip. Celebrating one means celebrating the other.
What the State Bank does not publish
The State Bank of Pakistan publishes the remittance figure each month and the headline writes itself. What the State Bank does not publish:
- The number of bodies repatriated that month
- The number of Pakistani workers who lost their jobs in Saudi labour reforms
- The hawala estimate
- The mortality cost of physician migration
- The Indian-Pakistani wage gap costing tens of billions of dollars over a generation
The remittance figure is the only number the state has chosen to surface as a national vital sign. It is a politically convenient choice, not an economically honest one.
In closing
$38.5 billion is a real number. It pays import bills. It stabilises the rupee. It funds school fees and weddings and medical bills for millions of Pakistani families.
It is also the price tag on what the country has given up to obtain it. 9 million Pakistanis abroad. 25,000 bodies a year coming back. 80 percent of doctors gone within five years of graduation. Every record month is also a record indictment.
The number itself is not the achievement. The number is the receipt for a transaction the country pretended not to make.
, Asad Baig
Frequently asked questions
How much remittance does Pakistan receive each year? Pakistan received approximately $38.5 billion in formal remittances in fiscal year 2024-25. Including informal hawala channels, the IMF and World Bank estimate the actual flow could be 30 to 50 percent higher, putting it closer to $50-60 billion.
What was Pakistan's record remittance month? March 2025, with $4.1 billion in formal remittances , the highest single-month figure in Pakistan's history.
What percentage of Pakistan's GDP is remittances? Around 8 to 10 percent of GDP , roughly 12 times the global average of 0.82 percent. This places Pakistan in the same dependency category as Tajikistan, Lebanon, and Honduras.
Where do Pakistan's remittances come from? The Gulf region accounts for roughly half (Saudi Arabia $8-10 billion, UAE $7-8 billion, other Gulf states $4-5 billion). The Western anglosphere (UK, US, Canada, Australia) accounts for another large share. Together they explain 80%+ of formal inflows.
How much remittance comes through hawala? Estimates suggest $15 to $20 billion annually flows through informal hawala channels , equivalent to 30 to 50 percent of the formal figure. These flows do not appear in State Bank data and often go directly into cash-driven real estate transactions.
Sources and notes
- State Bank of Pakistan , FY 2024-25 remittance data
- World Bank , Personal remittances data; "Migration and Remittances Fact Book," 2010 and updates
- International Monetary Fund , Working papers on informal transfer systems
- TheGlobalEconomy.com , Remittance dependency rankings
- Visual Capitalist , "Mapped: Economies Most Dependent on Remittances," 2025
- UNDP , "Towards Human Resilience: Sustaining MDG Progress," 2011
Related reading
Pillar: Pakistan Brain Drain: The Graveyard of Remittancers Parent cluster: Why Pakistan's Remittance Economy Is a Development Trap
Sibling spokes:
- Where Does Pakistani Remittance Money Actually Go
- Why DHA and Bahria Town Are Inflating Pakistan's Housing Market
- What Is Hawala and How Much Pakistani Remittance Is Off the Books
Other pillars:
- The Human Cost of Pakistan's Brain Drain
- Why Pakistani Workers Earn Less Than Indians in the Gulf
- The Real Brain Gain Plan
Thank you for reading.
, Asad Baig
Asad Baig