Lebanon ranks third worldwide when it comes to remittance inflows to GDP ratio

According to the World Bank's recently released Migration and Development Brief, Lebanon stands out as one of the economies where remittance inflows contribute a substantial share of the GDP, highlighting their critical role in funding current account and fiscal shortfalls. 

Being the world's third, the World Bank estimates that in 2022, the remittance inflows in Lebanon amounted to nearly 36 percent of the country's GDP, jumping from 25.6 percent and 14.4 percent, respectively, in 2020 and 2019, and amounting to 27.5 percent in 2021.

Additionally, the Brief sheds light on remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), projected to increase by 1.4 percent to reach $656 billion in 2023.  

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brief emphasizes the significance of remittance inflows as a crucial source of external financing for countries and households, particularly for LMICs burdened with high levels of external debt.  

According to the World Bank, remittance inflows experienced a decline of 3.8 percent in the Middle East and North Africa region. In contrast, many of the region's economies heavily rely on remittance receipts, such as Lebanon, West Bank and Gaza, and Jordan.  

In Lebanon, remittance receipts rebounded to approximately $6.4 billion in 2022, constituting 57 percent of aggregate external resource flows (which includes the sum of remittances, FDI, and ODA).  

Dilip Ratha, the lead author of the report on migration and remittances and head of KNOMAD, expressed, "Remittances have become a financial lifeline in many economies through the pandemic and will become even more so in the foreseeable future."