Saudi Arabia drives remittance growth as UAE, Malaysia see declines

Remittances are giving Bangladesh’s struggling economy a much-needed lift, with Saudi Arabia emerging as the biggest source of the inflows.

Expatriate Bangladeshis sent $8.59 billion home in the first quarter of fiscal 2026-27, up 13.3 percent from the same period a year earlier, Bangladesh Bank data released Monday showed.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 19.2 percent of the total, sending $1.65 billion during July-September. That was 34 percent higher than the $1.23 billion received from the country in the same period of fiscal 2025-26.

Saudi Arabia was also Bangladesh’s largest remittance source last year, contributing $5.85 billion, or 16.33 percent of the total $35.59 billion received.

More than 3.5 million Bangladeshis work in Saudi Arabia, the largest concentration of Bangladeshi migrant workers in any country.

The United Arab Emirates and the United States had overtaken Saudi Arabia as the top sources in the preceding two financial years. The UAE led in 2023-24 with $4.6 billion, while Saudi Arabia sent $2.74 billion and the US $2.96 billion.

The US topped the following year with $4.73 billion, followed by Saudi Arabia with $4.26 billion and the UAE with $4.16 billion.

The UK was the second-largest source in the latest quarter, sending $1.22 billion, up 31.6 percent year-on-year.

The UAE ranked third with $777.6 million, down 12.61 percent from $883.8 million a year earlier.

Remittances from Malaysia also fell 18.71 percent to $666.8 million from $820.3 million.

Meanwhile, inflows from the US rose 23.5 percent to $774.8 million from $627.4 million.