The Cost of Sending Remittances December 2015 Data According to World Bank

Key Report Findings

• The average global cost of sending remittances fell to 7.37% as of December 2015, from 7.52% in the previous quarter.
• In 80% of country corridors, it’s possible to send money for the average cost of 10% or less. At the end of 2009, only half of the corridors had the cost of 10% or less.

The Cost of Sending Money from and to G20 Countries

• The cost of sending money from G20 countries was recorded at 7.46%, remaining substantially stable compared to the last quarter
• At 16.59%, South Africa remains the most costly G20 country to send money from.
• Russia is the least expensive country at 1.95%, followed by Saudi Arabia at 5.05%.
• The cost to send money to G20 countries that are included in RPW as receiving markets, decreased to 7.10%.
• It’s most expensive to send money to China, 9.72%, and South Africa, 8.89%.
• Mexico and India are the cheapest receiving markets, at 4.75% and 5.95%, respectively.

The Cost of Sending Money to Different Regions

• The most meaningful change in Q4 2015 was a decline in the cost of sending remittances to the Middle East and North Africa region, which decreased from 8.37 to 7.42 percent.
• At 5.43%, South Asia is still the least costly region to send money to.
• Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send money to at 9.53%.
• In East Asia & the Pacific the cost was recorded at 7.97%.
• In East Europe and Central Asia the average cost exluding Russia is 7.51%. If Russia is included in the calculation, the cost is 6.48%.
• Latin America & the Caribbean experienced a slight decreased to 6.04%.

The Cost of Using Different Channels to Send Money

• Sending money through a post office remains the least expensive, while going through a commercial bank is still the most costly.
• Post offices’ remittance charges slightly declined to 5.88%.
• Using banks to send money remained most expensive at 11.12%.
• Sending money through Money Transfer Operators decreased to 6.24%

Types of Products

• Cash services remain the most widely available and one of the cheapest ways to send money at 6.54%.
• Online products are the cheapest product type at 5.57%.
• Account-to-account services remain the most expensive at 10.86%. However, the cost of transfer within the same bank or to a partner bank in the receiving country is significantly cheaper at 5.67%.