Barbados: Personal remittances, received (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2017, Barbados' personal remittances, received (% of GDP) fell 1.32 percentage points on 2016 (from 2.77% to 1.46%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2016), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.56 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.14 percentage points in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.32 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2008 to 2017 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 4% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

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.

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

All 48 values

Personal remittances, received (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 0.94% (2025)
• Argentina — 0.14% (2025)
• Aruba — 1.04% (2023)
• Belize — 3.72% (2025)
• Bolivia — 1.92% (2025)
• Brazil — 0.21% (2025)
• Chile — 0.03% (2025)
• Colombia — 2.87% (2025)
• Costa Rica — 0.82% (2025)
• Curaçao — 5.38% (2023)
• Dominica

More economic policy & debt data for Barbados

• GDP (current US$) — US$8.02 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 16.03 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$6.5 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 15.34 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$28,365 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 56,730 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$23,014 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 54,263 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$7.69 billion (2025)
• GNI (current LCU) — 15.38 billion (2025)
• GNI per capita (current LCU) — 54,417 (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Barbados's personal remittances, received (% of GDP)?

1.46% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is down 1.19 percentage points from 2.65% in 1970. The highest value was 4.25% in 2001 and the lowest 0.58% in 1985.

Is the latest change in personal remittances, received (% of GDP) unusual for Barbados?

In 2017, Barbados' personal remittances, received (% of GDP) fell 1.32 percentage points on 2016 (from 2.77% to 1.46%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1987 to 2016), the average change was +0.07 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.56 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Staff estimates, World Bank (WB); IMF balance of payments data, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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