Skopje, 16 December 2025 (MIA) - In 2024, Macedonians living abroad sent EUR 310 million in personal transfers, representing a surplus of two percent of the country's GDP, as per Eurostat data. Personal transfers in 2024 dropped from EUR 319 million in 2023 and EUR 331 million in 2022.

In regional terms, Serbia recorded the highest amount of personal transfers - EUR 4.47 billion or 5.4% of GDP, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUR 1.99 billion - 7.6% of GDP), Kosovo (EUR 1.32 billion - 12.7% of GDP), Albania (EUR 1.28 billion - 5.1% of GDP) and Montenegro (EUR 345 million - 4.5% of GDP).

In 2024, personal transfers were in surplus for 9 EU countries as their inflows from the rest of the world exceeded their outflows. Among those countries, 3 reported a surplus representing more than 1% of their respective GDP: Croatia (2.6% of GDP), Bulgaria (1.3%) and Portugal (1.2%). In contrast, Malta (-2.8%), Cyprus (-0.9%), Belgium (-0.6%), Greece, Spain and France (each -0.5%) exhibited the largest deficits of personal transfers as a share of their respective GDP.

In 2024, flows of money sent by EU resident households to non-EU resident households, referred to as personal transfers, amounted to EUR 52.1 billion, an increase of 6% compared with 2023 (EUR 49.2 billion). Inflows of personal transfers to EU resident households totalled EUR 14.8 billion, up by 7% compared with 2023 (EUR 13.8 billion).

In the last 5 years, a substantial growth in outflows of personal transfers has been observed. Outflows have surged by 51%, while inflows have grown more modestly, increasing by 26%. As a result, there has been a widening negative balance for the EU vis-à-vis non-EU countries, reaching EUR 37.3 billion in 2024.

Photo: MIA, Eurostat