GCC tops worldwide remittance outflows at $161bn
Gulf Cooperation Council countries recorded the highest value of outward workers’ remittances globally in 2025, with transfers reaching about $161 billion, official data showed. The figure rose 13.6 percent from 2024, marking a second consecutive year of growth after remittance outflows declined in 2023, according to GCC-Stat data cited by the UAE’s state news agency, WAM. The GCC’s remittance flows have increased alongside the region’s economic expansion and continued reliance on expatriate workers. The bloc’s population reached 63.3 million in 2025, while non-oil activities accounted for 70.6 percent of combined gross domestic product and grew 5.1 percent during the year. The increase comes as Gulf economies continue to attract expatriate labor to support infrastructure, services, industry and other non-oil sectors. The shift toward more diversified economies has also increased demand for workers across a broader range of industries. The International Monetary Fund said economies with larger non-hydrocarbon sectors, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, were better positioned to cushion the impact of recent disruptions, although weaker trade and business confidence have constrained activity.
Gulf’s next industrial revolution should be made across borders
This week, ministers, manufacturers and investors from across the Gulf gather in Bahrain for the inaugural Made in GCC Forum. The discussions range from artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing to financing, regional value chains and supply-chain resilience. Yet, perhaps the most important question is contained in the forum’s name, but what does it really mean for something to be “Made in the GCC”?
For the past two decades, Gulf countries have built increasingly ambitious national industrial strategies, and the results are visible from advanced manufacturing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to petrochemicals in Qatar, aluminium in Bahrain and new minerals and logistics investments in Oman. However, the region is not living to its full potential, and the opportunity is to connect these strengths.
The economic case is compelling. The Gulf’s combined gross domestic product reached $2.3 trillion in 2024, which would make it the world’s ninth-largest economy if treated as one, ahead of Canada, Brazil and Russia. Its 61.5 million people generate an average GDP per capita of about $38,000. Its commercial banks hold $3.9 trillion in assets, while 13 GCC sovereign wealth funds collectively manage more than an estimated $4.5 trillion.
In the world, expat remittances from GCC are highest
Remittance outflows from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were the highest in the world in 2025, rising almost 14 percent year on year.
Remittances rose for a second straight year, up $19 billion to more than $161 billion, driven by growth in the expat population and the economy, the state-run Wam news agency reported, citing a report by GCC-Stat, the body that compiles data on the six-nation bloc.
Workers’ remittances as a share of GCC countries’ gross domestic product rose to 6.6 percent in 2025 from 6 percent in 2024, it said.
Expat remittances from the US reached $107 billion, Switzerland $43 billion, Germany $27 billion and France $21 billion.
This month, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva said she expects the GCC economy to contract in 2026, reflecting a sharp drop in hydrocarbon production and a marked slowdown in non-hydrocarbon growth.
GCC countries record world’s highest outward workers’ remittances
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries collectively recorded the world’s highest value of outward workers’ remittances in 2025, totalling approximately US$161 billion, representing growth of 13.6 percent compared with 2024 and an increase of approximately US$19 billion, according to the report “Outward Workers’ Remittances from the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, 2025”, issued by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat).
The report noted that total workers’ remittances from GCC countries rose for the second consecutive year, following the decline recorded in 2023, reaching their highest level in 2025. This rise comes amid the continued attraction of expatriate workers, alongside the expansion of economic activities associated with infrastructure projects, services, industry and non-oil sectors.
Workers’ remittances as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) of GCC countries stood at approximately 6.6 percent in 2025, compared with approximately 6.0 percent in 2024, 5.7 percent in 2023 and 5.6 percent in 2022. The report noted that this ratio reflects the relative weight of workers’ remittances in relation to the size of GCC economies and does not, in itself, indicate an improvement or deterioration in economic performance.
GCC chambers federation discusses ways
The Board of Directors of the Federation of GCC Chambers held its 69th meeting on Monday in Manama, Bahrain, chaired by HE Chairman of the Federation and Chairman of Qatar Chamber Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani, with the participation of chairpersons of federations and chambers of commerce and industry from GCC states.
The meeting discussed ways to enhance economic and trade cooperation among GCC states, the role of the private sector in boosting intra-GCC trade, and measures to advance economic integration in the Gulf region.
HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al-Thani said the meeting comes at a time when the region is facing unprecedented and rapidly evolving challenges, foremost among them geopolitical instability and disruptions to international trade and navigation, which have put pressure on supply chains and increased transport, shipping, and insurance costs.