The money that comes home

Remittances connect overseas work to economies at home. Read the country observation years and coverage gaps.

What the comparison shows

The Philippines received about US$41.56 billion in personal remittances in 2025, equivalent to 8.53% of GDP, while paying about US$0.29 billion outward. Dollar volume, economic weight and outflows describe different parts of the story. Timor-Leste has a higher GDP share despite much smaller dollar receipts; the Philippines’ larger volume does not make it the most dependent economy.

How to interpret the findings

Received and paid values are separate WDI series, not inferred from a GDP ratio. The recent comparison uses latest observations in 2020–2025; Malaysia and Laos end in 2024. Historical-only Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei outflow observations remain available in the topic’s annual history rather than in the recent ranking. Singapore has no observations in the requested window. These data do not identify migrant counts, bilateral corridors or household recipients; current dollars are not inflation-adjusted.

Coverage and context

Latest non-missing observations within 2020–2025; years can differ. Older-only series are excluded here and available in annual history. Missing values are never zero. Dollar amounts are nominal; received and paid flows are separate indicators.

The table is a comparison of observations, not a combined ranking. The topic guide includes the wider SEA-11 coverage, interactive charts and full methodology.