Croatia identified as the lowest cost remittance market of 2023

• FXC Intelligence identified Croatia as the lowest-cost market to receive remittances globally in 2023, following the country’s transition to the euro at the start of the year.
• 0% FX margins between the eurozone and Croatia, combined with stable transfer fees for all corridors, drove down the cost of sending remittances to Croatia. The lack of FX margins and geopolitical developments were identified as two key factors impacting the pricing of remittances for other low cost markets.
• FXC Intelligence was able to determine which countries cost the least to send remittances to through its consumer remittance pricing data product, which traces live and historic pricing for around 700 providers and across more than 110 countries. 

FXC Intelligence identified Croatia as the lowest-cost market to receive remittances globally in 2023. This was because Croatia joined the euro at the start of 2023, resulting in the cost to send money into the country dropping by more than half. 

With most remittances into Croatia coming from inside the eurozone, FX margins for most remittance flows into the country dropped to 0% and with stable transfer fees for all corridors globally, Croatia became the lowest-cost remittance market. 

The lack of FX margins in countries where remittances were received, in either the same currency as the send currency or in a non-local currency, was a key factor for many of the lowest-cost remittance destinations in 2023. For example, El Salvador ranked highly as a low-cost market due to most flows into the country being sent USD to USD. Similarly, Romania was found to be a low-cost market due to around half of the services tracked to Romania having EUR as the receiving currency, instead of RON. 

In some cases, geopolitical developments can also impact pricing. For example, Ukraine saw a drop in 2022 largely due to the impact of promotional pricing change as companies sought to show their support in the wake of Russia’s invasion by waiving fees. By 2023, the number of companies waiving fees had dropped, which prompted an increase in average pricing. Despite this, Ukraine is still placed as the 18th lowest-cost destination for remittances. 

Cameron Graham, Head of Platform Products at FXC Intelligence, said:

“It was possible to identify the lowest-cost remittance markets in 2023 through FXC Intelligence’s consumer remittance pricing dataset, which tracks live and historic pricing for around 700 providers and across more than 110 countries.

“FXC Intelligence will continue to track the lowest-cost remittance markets over the coming year as changes to FX margins and geopolitical developments can greatly affect which countries cost the least to send remittances to.”

To see the full list of the lowest-cost consumer remittance destinations in 2023, click here. 

Further information

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