In 2020, flows of money sent by residents of the EU to non-EU countries, referred to as personal transfers, amounted to EUR 34.1 billion, a 3 % increase compared with EUR 33.2 bn in 2019. The majority of personal transfers consist of flows of money sent by migrants to their country of origin. Inflows to the EU totalled EUR 12.0 bn, a 6 % decrease compared with the EUR 12.8 bn registered in 2019.
This information comes from data published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.
The extra-EU outflows have maintained a growing trend since 2015, having increased by 33 % since that year. But, as the inflows have remained constant, this has resulted in an increased negative balance of EU 22.1 billion for the EU vis-á-vis non-EU countries in 2020.
Weight of net personal transfers of the EU economies
In 2020, Croatia (2.7 %), Romania (1.4 %) and Latvia (1.3 %) generated surpluses of personal transfers that contribute to more than 1 % of their respective GDP. In contrast, France and Spain generated deficits of personal transfers representing -0.5 % of their respective GDP vis-à-vis the rest of the world.
For more information:
- Eurostat Statistics Explained article on personal remittances statistics
- Eurostat database on the balance of payments
- Eurostat dedicated section on the balance of payments