In 2023, the personal remittances received in Nigeria decreased by roughly *** billion U.S. dollars (-2.9 percent) since 2022. The incoming personal remittances in Nigeria peaked in 2018, when the figure stood at ** billion U.S. dollars. Personal remittances refer to personal transfers and compensation of employees. The former includes all current transfers between resident and nonresident individuals, while the latter refers to the income of workers who are employed in an economy where they are not resident, and of residents employed by nonresident entities. These include border, seasonal, and other short-term workers.

Outbound remittances from Nigeria largely went towards Ghana in 2021, but this flow was considerably smaller than the total value of remittances received in Nigeria. This is according to a ranking that attempts to map out the flow of such money transfers. Remittances refer to cross-border payments to family or friends and are often associated with migrant workers sending money back home to friends or relatives back in their communities of origin. It is estimated that about one in seven people worldwide are involved with remittances - substantially impacting payment behavior in, especially, Asia and Latin America. For Nigeria, the top five recipient countries for remittances in 2021 included Ghana, Togo, Niger, Mali, and Benin. Nigeria's five main sources for remittances - which, in total, were over 10 times bigger than the value sent - included the United States, the United Kingdom, Cameroon, Italy, and Niger.

Remittances sent to Africa went largely towards Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco in 2021, with each country receiving at least 10 billion billions worth of dollars. This is according to a database that tries to model money sent internationally from one party to another. Remittances typically refer to money sent from migrant workers back home to family and friends, although there are other forms of this. Remittances can, for example, include pensioners who have a second home in a foreign country. Nevertheless, Asia Pacific - not Africa - is often referred to as the main receiver of remittances.