Timor-Leste: Personal remittances, received (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Timor-Leste's personal remittances, received (% of GDP) fell 1.78 percentage points on 2024 (from 11.77% to 9.99%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2024), the average change was +0.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.03 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 12.87 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.92 percentage points in 2013. 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 0.65 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 48% 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, Timor-Leste had the 18th 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 Timor-Leste in the 2025 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 14th of 130: 11.37%
• Georgia — 15th of 130: 11.17%
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 16th of 130: 10.72%
• Pakistan — 18th of 130: 9.94%
• Dominican Republic — 19th of 130: 9.74%
• Montenegro — 20th of 130: 9.72%

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 20 values

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

• Australia — 0.11% (2025)
• Cambodia — 4.29% (2025)
• China — 0.15% (2025)
• Fiji — 7.11% (2024)
• French Polynesia — 10.58% (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 0.11% (2025)
• Indonesia — 1.22% (2025)
• Japan — 0.11% (2025)
• Kiribati — 6.48% (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 0.38% (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Timor-Leste

• Short-term debt (% of total external debt) — 0.43% (2024)
• IFC, private nonguaranteed (NFL, current US$) — −US$750,000 (2024)
• Adjusted savings, education expenditure (% of GNI) — 3.19% (2021)
• Adjusted savings, mineral depletion (current US$) — US$0 (2021)
• Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$221.69 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance and official aid received (constant 2023 US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)
• Net official development assistance received (current US$) — US$259.94 million (2023)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Timor-Leste's personal remittances, received (% of GDP)?

9.99% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2006?

It is up 9.18 percentage points from 0.8% in 2006. The highest value was 15.59% in 2009 and the lowest 0.8% in 2006.

How does Timor-Leste rank?

18th highest of 130 economies with data for 2025.

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

In 2025, Timor-Leste's personal remittances, received (% of GDP) fell 1.78 percentage points on 2024 (from 11.77% to 9.99%). Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2024), the average change was +0.61 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.03 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 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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