SL receives US$ 479mn from migrant workers in May

• Cumulative figure for first five months at US$ 2.34bn, up 76% YoY

Remittance income has continued to show strength so far in 2023 after authorities managed to restore stability in the domestic foreign exchange market by allowing greater exchange rate flexibility and the swift measures taken to crack down on informal channels. 

Sri Lanka in May received US$ 479.7 million from migrant workers, slightly up from US$ 454 million in April reflecting what could be the true average monthly potential from worker remittances as there was an element of over-reporting of remittance income by banks which appears to have now been fixed.

In May 2022, Sri Lanka reported only US$ 304.10 million in remittances when the country was gripped by the worst economic crisis which precipitated into a full-blown social and political crisis. 
With May inflows, the cumulative workers’ remittances for the first five months of 2023 increased 75.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to US$ 2, 346.0 million.
Over 300,000 people left Sri Lanka for employment in 2022, the highest since 2014.