Uruguay: Personal remittances, received (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Uruguay's personal remittances, received (current US$) rose 10.2% on 2024 (from US$136.12 million to US$149.98 million).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (2002 to 2024), the average change was +25,963.7% and a typical year strayed about 124,481.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 596,998.7% in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 28.9% in 2012. 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$5.33 million a year. A straight line explains 91% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about US$158.27 million for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was US$9.82 million, against US$15.07 million for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, Uruguay had the 115th highest value of the 131 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

• Suriname — 111th of 131: US$176.13 million
• Macao SAR, China — 112th of 131: US$173.82 million
• Botswana — 113th of 131: US$164.89 million
• Belize — 115th of 131: US$123.83 million
• Chile — 116th of 131: US$100.29 million
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 117th of 131: US$88.32 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 26 values

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

• Antigua and Barbuda — US$22.04 million (2025)
• Argentina — US$922.83 million (2025)
• Aruba — US$38.96 million (2023)
• Barbados — US$85.18 million (2017)
• Belize — US$123.83 million (2025)
• Bolivia — US$1.25 billion (2025)
• Brazil — US$4.76 billion (2025)
• Chile — US$100.29 million (2025)
• Colombia — US$13.13 billion (2025)
• Costa Rica — US$845.52 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

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

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

US$149.98 million in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1979?

It is up 3,471% from US$4.2 million in 1979 (8.08% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$149.98 million in 2025 and the lowest US$6,038 in 2001.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.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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