Bahrain: Personal remittances, paid (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Bahrain's personal remittances, paid (current US$) fell 4.3% on 2024 (from US$2.66 billion to US$2.55 billion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +7.3% and a typical year strayed about 14.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 102.7% in 1985 and the biggest yearly fall was 52.1% in 1990. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Bahrain had the 35th highest value of the 133 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bahrain in the 2025 ranking

• Kazakhstan — 32nd of 133: US$2.73 billion
• Romania — 33rd of 133: US$2.65 billion
• Macao SAR, China — 34th of 133: US$2.55 billion
• Croatia — 36th of 133: US$2.4 billion
• Türkiye — 37th of 133: US$2.04 billion
• Brazil — 38th of 133: US$1.86 billion

What this measures

Personal remittances comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfers consist of all current transfers in cash or in kind made or received by resident households to or from nonresident households. Personal transfers thus include all current transfers between resident and nonresident individuals. Compensation of employees refers to the income of border, seasonal, and other short-term workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident and of residents employed by nonresident entities. Data are the sum of two items defined in the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual: personal transfers and compensation of employees. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Remittance transactions have grown in importance over the past decade. In a number of developing economies, receipts of remittances have become an important and stable source of funds that exceeds receipts from exports of goods and services or from financial inflows on foreign direct investment. But the quality of statistical remittance data is not high. Remittances are a challenge to measure because of their nature. They are heterogeneous with numerous small transactions conducted by individuals through a wide variety of channels: formal channels, such as electronic wire, or through informal channels, such as cash or goods carried across borders.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 51 values

Personal remittances, paid (current US$) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — US$225.42 million (2020)
• Algeria — US$123.6 million (2025)
• Djibouti — US$974,595 (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — US$754.9 million (2025)
• Iraq — US$596.4 million (2025)
• Israel — US$1.75 billion (2025)
• Jordan — US$576.9 million (2024)
• Kuwait — US$16.74 billion (2025)
• Lebanon — US$1.78 billion (2023)
• Libya — US$4.82 billion (2023)

More economic policy & debt data for Bahrain

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$5.27 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$4.61 billion (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$48.97 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 18.41 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$42.56 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 15.71 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$30,597 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 11,504 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$26,592 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 9,816 (2025)
• GDP (annual % growth)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Bahrain's personal remittances, paid (current US$)?

US$2.55 billion in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 866.09% from US$263.46 million in 1975 (4.64% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$3.27 billion in 2018 and the lowest US$263.46 million in 1975.

How does Bahrain rank?

35th highest of 133 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in personal remittances, paid (current US$) unusual for Bahrain?

In 2025, Bahrain's personal remittances, paid (current US$) fell 4.3% on 2024 (from US$2.66 billion to US$2.55 billion). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +7.3% and a typical year strayed about 14.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BM.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: IMF balance of payments data, International Monetary Fund (IMF); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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