In 2021, flows of money sent by residents of the EU to non-EU countries, referred to as personal transfers, amounted to EUR 37.7 billion (+11% compared with EUR 34.0 billion in 2020). Inflows to the EU totalled EUR 13.0 billion (+5 % compared with EUR 12.4 billion in 2020). The majority of personal transfers consist of flows of money sent by migrants to their country of origin.
Extra-EU outflows have displayed a growing trend since 2015 (+47 % in 2021 compared with 2015). As inflows have remained constant, this has resulted in a widening negative balance for the EU vis-à-vis non-EU countries, reaching EUR 24.7 billion in 2021.
In contrast, Cyprus (-0.9 %), France and Spain (each -0.5 %) generated the largest deficits of personal transfers vis-à-vis the rest of the world as a share of their respective GDP.
Weight of net personal transfers of the EU economies
In 2021, the EU countries that generated surpluses of personal transfers, representing more than 1% of their respective gross domestic product (GDP), were Croatia (2.7 % of GDP), Bulgaria (1.6 %), Romania (1.5 %) and Latvia (1.1 %).
In contrast, Cyprus (-0.9 %), France and Spain (each -0.5 %) generated the largest deficits of personal transfers vis-à-vis the rest of the world as a share of their respective GDP.