Gov ScoreAustralia

Condition

Money sent overseas by individuals

How much do people living in Australia send to family and friends overseas?

Money sent overseas by individuals: $1.9bn in 2021-22, $2.7bn in 2025-26. The highest level in figures back to 2004.

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Latest
$2.7bnsent overseas as personal transfers in a year · 2025-26
Since the government took office
Higher+$0.8bn$1.9bn → $2.7bn (2021-22 → 2025-26)Sending money to family overseas is a private choice, so the direction isn’t coloured.
Over the past year
little changed+$0.0bn$2.7bn → $2.7bn (2024-25 → 2025-26)

Personal transfers sent overseas

  • Original
  • Financial years
Money and goods sent by people living in Australia to people overseas, each financial year. ABS estimate.

What this is

Personal transfers are money or goods sent by people living in Australia to people overseas without anything in return, mostly to family. The ABS estimates them as part of the balance of payments.

Why it matters

They are one of the ways money leaves the country, alongside imports, overseas travel and payments to foreign investors. They tend to grow as the population and incomes grow.

More from the figures

  • $2.7 billion was sent overseas as personal transfers in 2025-26, up from $1.9 billion in 2021-22 and $1.1 billion in 2013-14.
  • That is about 0.1% of GDP.
  • The ABS does not publish this series for money sent to people in Australia from overseas, so a net figure is not available.
  • The figures are not broken down by the country the money goes to or by the background of the person sending it.

How it’s calculated

ABS Balance of Payments, secondary income debits, other sectors, personal transfers, original series at current prices. The 4 quarters of each financial year are added together and shown in billions of dollars.

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