Kosovo: Personal remittances, received (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Kosovo's personal remittances, received (% of GDP) rose 0.02 percentage points on 2024 (from 17.29% to 17.31%).

Across the 16 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2024), the average change was −0.31 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.28 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above 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 2.76 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.17 percentage points in 2011. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.29 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 51% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

How it compares

In 2025, Kosovo had the 11th highest value of the 130 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 Kosovo in the 2025 ranking

• Samoa — 7th of 130: 22.37%
• Guatemala — 8th of 130: 20.82%
• Lesotho — 9th of 130: 20.79%
• Jamaica — 11th of 130: 16.29%
• Uzbekistan — 12th of 130: 14.35%
• Cabo Verde — 13th of 130: 11.67%

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 18 values

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

• Albania — 8.39% (2025)
• Armenia — 5.38% (2025)
• Austria — 0.66% (2025)
• Azerbaijan — 1.97% (2025)
• Belarus — 2.54% (2025)
• Belgium — 2.25% (2025)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 10.72% (2025)
• Bulgaria — 2.1% (2025)
• Croatia — 6.9% (2025)
• Cyprus — 2.05% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Kosovo

• Short-term debt (% of total external debt) — 35.58% (2024)
• IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, current US$) — −US$4.03 million (2024)
• Adjusted savings, mineral depletion (current US$) — US$28.35 million (2021)
• External debt stocks, total (DOD, current US$) — US$4.4 billion (2024)
• Use of IMF credit (DOD, current US$) — US$259.61 million (2024)
• External debt stocks, short-term (DOD, current US$) — US$1.56 billion (2024)
• Debt service on external debt, total (TDS, current US$) — US$376.95 million (2024)
• IMF repurchases and charges (TDS, current US$) — US$37.92 million (2024)
• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$1.52 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

17.31% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2008?

It is down 4.88 percentage points from 22.19% in 2008. The highest value was 22.19% in 2008 and the lowest 14.75% in 2016.

How does Kosovo rank?

11th highest of 130 economies with data for 2025.

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

In 2025, Kosovo's personal remittances, received (% of GDP) rose 0.02 percentage points on 2024 (from 17.29% to 17.31%). Across the 16 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2024), the average change was −0.31 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.28 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above 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 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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