Uruguay: Personal remittances, paid (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Uruguay's personal remittances, paid (current US$) fell 3.5% on 2024 (from US$137.57 million to US$132.8 million).

Across the 21 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2024), the average change was +55.2% and a typical year strayed about 194.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 903.5% in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 8.9% in 2020. 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 US$5.19 million a year. A straight line explains 87% 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, Uruguay had the 101st 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 Uruguay in the 2025 ranking

• Trinidad and Tobago — 98th of 133: US$151.42 million
• Zambia — 99th of 133: US$141.04 million
• Bolivia — 100th of 133: US$140.53 million
• Timor-Leste — 102nd of 133: US$123.85 million
• Algeria — 103rd of 133: US$123.6 million
• Nigeria — 104th of 133: US$113.16 million

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 24 values

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

• Antigua and Barbuda — US$36.34 million (2025)
• Argentina — US$842.5 million (2025)
• Aruba — US$116.05 million (2023)
• Bahamas, The — US$320.92 million (2024)
• Barbados — US$48.76 million (2017)
• Belize — US$45.89 million (2025)
• Bolivia — US$140.53 million (2025)
• Brazil — US$1.86 billion (2025)
• Chile — US$691.34 million (2025)
• Colombia — US$429.16 million (2025)

More economic policy & debt data for Uruguay

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$18.99 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$18.97 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$15.02 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 618.82 billion (2025)
• General government final consumption expenditure (% of GDP) — 17.6% (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (current US$) — US$67.76 billion (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (current LCU) — 2.79 trillion (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$) — US$53.61 billion (2025)
• Final consumption expenditure (constant LCU)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

US$132.8 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1979?

It is up 10,115% from US$1.3 million in 1979 (10.58% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$137.57 million in 2024 and the lowest US$1.3 million in 1979.

How does Uruguay rank?

101st highest of 133 economies with data for 2025.

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

In 2025, Uruguay's personal remittances, paid (current US$) fell 3.5% on 2024 (from US$137.57 million to US$132.8 million). Across the 21 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2024), the average change was +55.2% and a typical year strayed about 194.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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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