Transfer fees

By The Economist online

The cost of sending money home

SOME 192m migrants—3% of the world population—sent remittances totalling $316 billion to developing countries last year, according to the World Bank. In the third quarter of this year, the cost was nearly 9% of a remittance of $200. Fees and exchange-rate margins make up the service-providers' charges. Banks are the most expensive, charging an average of 13% of the total amount. Post offices and money-transfer operators charge 9% and 7%, respectively. The cost of sending remittances is negatively correlated with the number of migrants and service-providers in a country; the more competition, the lower the cost. Our chart shows, for each country, which is the most expensive country to send $200 to. In Brazil, for example, it is most costly for resident Bolivians to send money home, costing almost three times as much as it does for Peruvians (not shown). In France, the most expensive remittance destination is Vietnam, followed closely by China.