Remittance Market Growth Trends

• According to May 2020 reporting by Allied Market Research, the global remittance market was valued at $682.6 billion as of 2018 and was expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% during the period between 2019 and 2026.
• The World Bank corroborated this industry size by reporting $689 billion in total remittances for 2018, adding that this reflected a growth in remittances of approximately 9% from 2017, when global remittances were valued at $633 billion.
• However, April 2020 reporting by ReserachAndMarkets indicated a less optimistic growth scenario for the industry going forward, with a projected CAGR of 1.04% over the period between 2020 and 2024.
• According to industry experts (e.g., Allied Market Research, ReserachAndMarkets), anticipated growth drivers for the industry through 2026 include the following:
•  Growth in international migrant populations 
•  Reductions in remittance costs  
•  Improvements in transfer services times 
•  Global economic growth 
•  Reductions in youth unemployment 
•  Increasing urbanization 
•  Rising disposable income. 
• In parallel, these researchers highlighted the following potential impediments to industry growth over the next 4 to 6 years:
•  Continued lack of consumer awareness 
•  Stagnation or decline in Asia-Pacific remittances 
•  Fluctuating remittance costs  
•  De-risking activities 
•  New/more restrictive government regulation. 

• Meanwhile, the largest remittance recipients globally as of 2018 were India ($78.6 billion), China ($67.4 billion) and Mexico ($35.7 billion).

Remittance Market Growth & COVID-19

• Despite consistently bullish predictions for the remittance industry as of early 2020, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed expectations for near-term market growth.
• Most notably, The World Bank asserted in April 2020 that global remittances would "decline sharply" by 20% in 2020 due to the "economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic."
• Notably, declines in remittance flows were projected for all World Bank Group regions, including Europe and Central Asia (27.5 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (23.1 percent), South Asia (22.1 percent), the Middle East and North Africa (19.6 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (19.3 percent), and East Asia and the Pacific (13 percent).
• In parallel, ReliefWeb published a June 2020 assessment of the remittance industry and similarly predicted "double-digit percentage decline in 2020" due to COVID-19.