Annual value of outgoing and incoming remittance flow in El Salvador 2021, by country
Remittances sent to El Salvador were nearly 40 times larger than the outgoing value in 2021, according to a ranking that maps 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 El Salvador, the top five recipient countries for remittances in 2021 included Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, the United States, and Mexico. El Salvador's main source for remittances - accounting for almost 90 percent of all inflow - was the United States.