Workers’ remittances records highest-ever March inflows

• March inflows up 21.21% YoY to $ 693.3 m
• Q1 remittances up 18.12% to over $ 1.81 b

Workers’ remittances hit a record high inflow for the month of March, reaching $ 693.3 million—the highest in 75 months.

This reflects a 21.21% year-on-year (YoY) increase and a 26.5% rise compared to February 2025, the latest Central Bank data revealed. 

The March 2025 figure is also the third-highest monthly remittance inflow in history, behind $ 812.7 million recorded in December 2020 and $ 729.35 in January 2018.

Analysing the data released by the Central Bank, it is evident that usually March receives a slightly higher remittance inflow ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. 

The high inflow in March also propelled the first quarter remittances to rise by 18.12% year-on-year (YoY) to over $ 1.81 billion, marking the highest cumulative in the period since 2021.

The workers’ remittances in the first three months of 2025 increased by 1.2% compared to the $ 1.79 billion registered in the same period of 2016 — the year that recorded the highest annual inflow at $ 7.24 billion.

In 2024, workers’ remittances hit a four-year high of $ 6.57 billion, up by 10.1% from $ 5.69 billion in 2023. The surge followed a record wave of people seeking foreign employment after an unprecedented economic crisis.

The sharpest post-crisis recovery was in 2023, when workers’ remittances grew by 57% to $ 6 billion, rebounding from a 12-year low of $ 3.78 billion in 2022. 

Highest-ever workers’ remittances were in 2016, whilst between 2014 and 2018, the annual average was $ 7 billion, suggesting a monthly inflow of around $ 600 million.