Remittances to India and Cross-Border Payments Statistics for 2026

India is the world's largest recipient of remittances. Remittances to India, measured as gross personal transfers, reached about USD 151.8 billion in fiscal year 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026). That total adds up four quarterly Reserve Bank of India (RBI) balance of payments releases.

That is about 12% more than the USD 135.46 billion India received in fiscal year 2024-25, which was itself a record. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2026-27, personal transfers rose 29% on a year earlier (RBI). Money sent home by Indians abroad is only one part of what flows in, since software, business services and freelance work bring in far more.

Below are the newest remittance and cross-border payment figures first, then the trend since 2010, where the money comes from, how India compares with other countries, what IT and service exports earn, what sending money costs and how fast it arrives. Every figure shows its source and date, so you can quote it safely and check it yourself.

Remittances to India in 2026 are best read with two labels, as with any remittance statistics. Gross figures count every rupee that arrives; net figures subtract what goes back out. Indian data runs on the fiscal year (April to March), while the World Bank counts the calendar year.

The RBI data line for remittances from workers abroad is narrower still, so never set it beside these totals when you compare remittances into India. Here are the headline numbers, newest first.

The quarterly run shows steady growth through FY2025-26, all gross figures from RBI releases. India received USD 33.2 billion in April to June 2025 and USD 38.2 billion in July to September. October to December brought USD 36.9 billion, and January to March 2026 brought USD 43.5 billion. The fourth quarter alone was up from USD 33.9 billion a year before.

If you want the year that the press called a record for India remittances 2025 (fiscal year 2024-25), the RBI figure is USD 135.46 billion, up 14%. The Economic Survey 2025-26 cites the same total as USD 135.4 billion.

Those transfers help keep India's current account steady: the full-year deficit for FY2025-26 was only USD 25.2 billion, or 0.6% of GDP (RBI, 8 June 2026).

You can see the long trend most cleanly in the World Bank series, because it uses one definition for every year. On that calendar-year basis, personal remittances to India rose from USD 53.5 billion in 2010 to USD 150.7 billion in 2025, almost three times as much (World Bank data, updated 8 October 2026).

RBI fiscal-year figures tell the same story with different labels:

• FY2010-11 to FY2023-24 - inward remittances more than doubled, from USD 55.6 billion to USD 118.7 billion (RBI Bulletin, March 2025).
• FY2020-21 - remittances fell 3.6% during the pandemic, the only dip in the recent run (RBI Bulletin, March 2025).
• FY2021-22 to FY2023-24 - average yearly growth was 14.3% (RBI Bulletin, March 2025).
• FY2024-25 to FY2025-26 - gross personal transfers rose from USD 135.46 billion to about USD 151.8 billion (RBI releases, 2025 and 2026).

On the World Bank series, the climb was not smooth. Flows sat near USD 70 billion from 2013 to 2015, dipped to USD 62.7 billion in 2016 and held flat at about USD 83 billion in 2019 and 2020. The big jump came after the pandemic, from USD 89.4 billion in 2021 to USD 111.2 billion in 2022.

The number of Indian migrants grew from 6.6 million in 1990 to 18.5 million in 2024, and more of them now hold office jobs in rich countries (RBI Bulletin, March 2025). RBI fiscal-year points appear only for years the RBI has published.

For remittances to India by country, the latest official split comes from the RBI sixth remittance survey, covering 2023-24 (FY24) and published in the RBI Bulletin in March 2025. It counts money received through banks, as a share of the survey total.

The Government told Parliament in July 2026 that it keeps no newer country-wise remittance data, so this survey remains the reference you can cite.

The US overtook the UAE even though fewer Indian migrants live there, because more of them work in well-paid office jobs, as the RBI explains in the same survey. The six Gulf countries together sent 38% in 2023-24, and rich economies such as the US, UK, Singapore, Canada and Australia now send more than the Gulf combined.

Looking at remittances to India state wise, five states took about two-thirds of the money in 2023-24.

Among the top remittance receiving countries, India has been first for well over a decade on World Bank data. In 2025 India received USD 150.7 billion, more than Mexico, France and Pakistan put together (World Bank data, calendar year, updated 8 October 2026). You can use these figures to compare India with any other country on one basis.

For the same picture worldwide, including sending countries and global flows, see our cross-border payments statistics page. Note that the World Bank also publishes a separate Migration and Development Brief whose estimates differ slightly, so always quote one series at a time.

Remittances are money people send to family. Service exports are money businesses earn by selling work abroad, and in India that second stream is far larger. India service exports reached USD 421.3 billion in FY2025-26, up 8.7%, while service imports were USD 204.7 billion (RBI, 8 June 2026).

That left a net services surplus of USD 216.6 billion, up from USD 188.8 billion in FY2024-25. Together with personal transfers, it pushed net earnings from services, transfers and income (the RBI calls these invisibles) to USD 312.0 billion, from USD 264.0 billion a year earlier (RBI, 8 June 2026).

The newest quarter keeps the pace. In April to June 2026, gross services receipts were USD 106.2 billion against USD 97.4 billion a year earlier. The net services surplus rose to USD 51.6 billion from USD 47.9 billion (RBI, 1 September 2026). April 2026 alone brought in USD 37.0 billion of service exports (RBI, 15 June 2026).

How much India earns from IT and software exports

Software is the biggest part of that services income, and India's IT exports make up most of it. According to the RBI survey of software exports released on 18 September 2026, India exported USD 221.4 billion of software services in FY2025-26, up 8.2% from USD 204.7 billion. Including sales by foreign affiliates of Indian firms, the total was USD 239.3 billion.

Where the clients sit matters if you sell software abroad. The US bought 54.1% of India software exports in FY2025-26, up from 52.9%, while Europe took 31.8%, including the UK at 15.4%. Asia took 6.3% and Canada 1.3% (RBI, 18 September 2026). Almost all of it, 91.7%, was delivered from India over the internet rather than on site.

The invoice currency tells you which money your business is most likely to receive:

• US dollar - 72.6% of software exports, USD 160.7 billion in FY2025-26.
• Euro - 9.6%, or USD 21.3 billion.
• Indian rupee - 6.3%, or USD 14.0 billion, down from 7.1%.
• British pound - 6.0%, or USD 13.3 billion.
• Australian dollar - 2.0%, or USD 4.4 billion.
• Other currencies, including CAD, SGD and AED - 3.5% combined, or USD 7.7 billion.

How many freelancers and gig workers India has

No official count of Indian freelancers who work for clients abroad exists, so be wary of any single national number you see quoted. The closest official figure covers gig and platform workers in general: about 1.2 crore (12 million) in FY2024-25, or more than 2% of the workforce (Economic Survey 2025-26, PIB, 29 January 2026).

That is up from 77 lakh in FY2020-21 (NITI Aayog, PIB, 27 June 2022), and NITI Aayog projects 2.35 crore by 2029-30, a forecast rather than a count. Most of these workers serve Indian customers, so the figure is an upper bound for freelance export work. For the full breakdown, see our gig economy statistics for India.

Money also leaves India, mainly through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), which lets residents send up to a yearly limit abroad. Outward LRS remittances were USD 28.98 billion in FY2025-26 (RBI Bulletin, 25 September 2026), so gross inward personal transfers were about 5.2 times larger. You can read how the scheme works in our LRS guide.

Travel made up 56.7% of outward LRS money.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India's instant mobile payment system, now works in a handful of countries, mostly for shop payments by Indian visitors and a few person-to-person transfer links.

The RBI Payment System Report of 18 May 2026, with data to December 2025, lists UPI QR payments as live in eight countries: Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the UAE. You can read the full RBI Payment System Report on the RBI website.

Counts you see elsewhere often run higher because they are newer or count different things. The Finance Minister said in August 2026 that UPI operates in 11 countries (IANS report, 25 August 2026), on a wider and newer count. Press reports in June 2026 added Cambodia and Greece, with Greece going live on 30 June 2026. Some lists count shop QR payments only, while others add person-to-person transfer links such as UPI-PayNow with Singapore, live since February 2023.

UPI abroad today mostly serves Indian tourists paying in shops and people sending money between India and Singapore. It does not yet carry business invoice payments into India at any scale. For what it can and cannot do, see our guide to UPI international transfer.

Sending money to India was cheaper than the world average in the latest RBI data. The RBI's sixth remittance survey, which covers 2023-24, found that amounts under USD 200 carried the highest weighted average cost of any bracket, 4.6%, against 2.4% for USD 200-500 (a survey average across banks, money transfer operators and fintechs).

In Q2 2024, sending USD 200 to India cost 5.02% on average, against a global average of 6.65% (World Bank price data quoted in the RBI Bulletin, March 2025). To see what Indian banks pay per US dollar on inward payments today, compare the best remittance rate to India.

For a business, the bigger cost is often the exchange rate margin rather than the fee, as our guide to cross-border fees shows. Larger payments also cost less in percentage terms, and digital transfers to India cost about 4.0% against about 5.0% overall (Q2 2024, RBI Bulletin, March 2025).

On speed, an RBI rule effective about 9 October 2026 asks banks to credit inward payments the same business day. If your payer is a US business, the largest source country (27.7% of 2023-24 remittances, RBI), see how to send money from the USA to India.

Most money sent through transfer companies now moves digitally. In 2023-24, 73.5% of remittances received through money transfer operators were digital, the RBI found (RBI Bulletin, March 2025). That figure covers transfer companies only, not bank wires, so it is not a share of all remittance data. For how a payment moves from sender to receiver, see our guide to cross-border payments.

• Saudi Arabia - 92.7% of transfers from Saudi Arabia through these operators were digital.
• Australia - 89.5% digital.
• Qatar - 76.2% digital.
• UAE - 76.1% digital.

Currencies differ by stream. Family remittances follow where migrants live, so dirhams, riyals, dollars and pounds dominate, while business money follows the invoice currency of the exporter.

Several rule changes now shape how money moves in and out of India. The most relevant ones for you are below, each with its date.

The G20 targets come from the Financial Stability Board (FSB), which tracks them yearly. Its October 2025 progress report called progress "mixed" and said satisfactory improvement at the global level is "unlikely" by the 2027 deadline, although remittance speed has improved. Until then a payment can still run late, so it helps to know how to track a cross-border payment.

No official numeric forecast exists for remittances to India in FY2026-27, so treat any single figure you see with care. What you can rely on is the run rate: April to June 2026 transfers were up 29%, and services income kept growing (RBI, 1 September 2026).

Four things to watch through 2027:

• The G20 deadline - end-2027 is the target date for faster, cheaper payments, and the FSB has already said it will likely be missed globally.
• Same-day bank credit - the RBI rule effective in October 2026 should show up in faster credit times for inward payments.
• Cost disclosure - a final RBI rule on showing fees and exchange rates would let you compare banks more easily.
• Project Nexus - a link between the instant payment systems of India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, with a reported 2027 go-live target that is a plan, not a commitment.

The RBI also says it remains committed to widening UPI abroad, but it has set no country target. For a longer view of technology and policy, read our piece on the future of cross-border payments.

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Remittances to India reached about USD 151.8 billion in FY2025-26 and started FY2026-27 up 29%. Service exports earned far more, at USD 421.3 billion, with software alone at USD 221.4 billion.

The US, UAE and UK send the most, while Maharashtra and Kerala receive the most. Costs to India sit below the world average, and a new RBI rule aims for same-day credit of inward payments.

We will refresh these figures each year as the RBI and World Bank publish new data. Check each figure against its source and date before you quote it.