Expat remittances in Qatar increased by 3.5% in 2019

Official data showed on Sunday that expatriate remittances in Qatar increased by 3.5 per cent during 2019, on a yearly basis.

Qatar Central Bank data indicated that expatriate remittances increased to 43 billion Qatari riyals ($11.9 billion) during the past year.

Workers’ remittances in Qatar recorded 41.54 billion Qatari riyals ($11.5 billion) in 2018.

The data also indicated that the balance of current transfers (monitoring all transfers inside or outside the country) recorded a deficit of 60.44 billion Qatari riyals ($16.7 billion) last year, with an increase by 1.5 per cent on a yearly basis.

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Qatar received about 4.91 billion Qatari riyals ($1.36 billion) in remittances from abroad (not including the values of commercial remittances), compared to outward remittances with a total value of 65.36 billion Qatari riyals ($18.13 billion) during 2019.

There are more than 2.1 million expatriates in Qatar, from nearly 100 nationalities around the world, representing 88 per cent of the country’s residential structure, most of whom are Asian nationals.

In the face of the great abundance of expatriate workers and employees, the money transfer market from Doha to all parts of the country is active, especially through the 20 operating exchange firms.