Annual value of outgoing and incoming remittance flow in Pakistan 2021, by country

The value of remittances received in Pakistan was over 500 times the size of the country's remittance outflow, with most money from Pakistan going to Afghanistan in 2021. This is according to a ranking that attempts to map out the flow of such money transfers. Remittances refer to cross-border payments to family or friends and are often associated with migrant workers sending money back home to friends or relatives back in their communities of origin. It is estimated that about one in seven people worldwide are involved with remittances - substantially impacting payment behavior in, especially, Asia and Latin America. For Pakistan, the top five recipient countries for remittances in 2021 included - largely - Afghanistan, and to a much lesser extent China, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Pakistan's main sources for remittances were Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Kuwait.