GCC Outward Remittances Hit Record $161B in 2025, Led by UAE and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia drove most of the annual increase and posted the fastest growth, while Bahrain was the only member state to see outflows fall.
Tariq Benali Tariq Benali covers business and corporate news across the UAE and MENA for Anecdoted, tracking the deals, leadership moves and regulatory shifts behind the region's companies. tariq@anecdoted.com
Workers in the six Gulf Cooperation Council states sent a record $161 billion out of the bloc in 2025, the highest outward remittance total recorded by any economy grouping, and 13.6% more than the year before. That is an increase of roughly $19 billion. It is the second straight annual rise, following a dip in 2023.
Where the money came from
The UAE remained the single largest source, with outflows of $62.1 billion. Saudi Arabia followed at $58 billion. The two together produced about 74.8% of all GCC outflows.
Most of the bloc's growth can be traced to Saudi Arabia, which contributed about $12.3 billion of the $19 billion increase. The kingdom also recorded the fastest expansion of any member state, at 26.9%.
The rest of the bloc:
- Kuwait: $16.7 billion, up 18.2%
- Qatar: $11.9 billion, up 4.7%
- Oman: $9.5 billion, up 2.7%
- Bahrain: $2.5 billion, down 4.3%
- The UAE's growth rate was 6.3%
Bahrain was the only GCC country to post a decline.
Economic demand for expatriate labor, alongside activity in infrastructure, services, industry and other non-oil sectors, explains the rise, the statistics office said.
A bigger share of output
Remittances leaving the bloc amounted to about 6.6% of combined GDP in 2025. The ratio has climbed steadily: 6% in 2024, 5.7% in 2023 and 5.6% in 2022.
Set against individual countries, the GCC total dwarfs several large economies. Outward flows from the United States were about $107 billion, from Switzerland $43 billion, from Germany $27 billion and from France $21 billion.
The figures draw on central bank data from all six member states and on International Monetary Fund data.
Where the money lands
A large share of Gulf remittance capital stays in the wider Middle East and North Africa. Inbound transfers to the region reached $61 billion in 2025.
Egypt absorbed the most. The Central Bank of Egypt recorded a record $41.5 billion in transfers from Egyptians working overseas during the year.
Morocco came second, receiving $13.3 billion, an increase of 2.6% over the previous year, according to Bank Al-Maghrib.
The two North African economies alone account for the bulk of the regional total, with Egypt's share several times larger than Morocco's. Both depend heavily on money sent home by citizens working in the Gulf, which makes Gulf labor demand and wage levels a direct input into their foreign exchange earnings.
