12.798 million foreign workers, including 400,000 Nepalis
What you should know
Foreign workers and expatriates working in Saudi Arabia sent back the most money they had ever received in 2025. According to data from the Saudi Central Bank, foreigners sent back a total of 165.5 billion Saudi riyals in 2025.
This amount is about 15 percent more than the 144.2 billion riyals sent in 2024. Foreign nationals are employed in Saudi Arabia, accounting for 40 percent of the total population. There are 12.798 million foreigners here, of which 400,000 are Nepalese. The amount of remittances they sent to Nepal is not disclosed. According to the
data, foreigners sent about 14 billion riyals abroad in December 2025 alone. Although this is slightly less than the same month of the previous year, it seems to be more overall. The highest increase in 2025 was seen in February. In that month, remittances increased by about 37 percent compared to the previous year. Similarly, 15.5 billion riyals were sent abroad in March, which is the highest monthly amount since 2016.
Saudi citizens have also increased the amount they send abroad. In 2025, Saudi citizens sent about 70.4 billion riyals abroad, which is about 3 percent more than the previous year. In February, the growth rate of remittances by Saudi citizens reached 34 percent.
However, the amount sent by Saudi citizens in December 2025 was limited to 6.12 billion riyals. This is about 20 percent less than the same month last year. The volume of remittances seems to be continuously increasing due to the large number of foreign workers working in Saudi Arabia. Analysts say that this is directly related to the labor market, the cost of living and the income of migrant workers.
