In September 2023, personal remittances from expatriates in Saudi Arabia saw a 12.57% decline, amounting to SR9.91 billion ($2.64 billion), compared to SR11.33 billion ($3.02 billion) in September 2022. On a monthly basis, expatriate remittances dropped by eight percent, down from SR10.77 billion ($2.87 billion) in the previous month.

Throughout the third quarter of 2023, the total expatriate remittances registered a 10% decrease, totaling SR31.3 billion ($8.35 billion), compared to about SR34.86 billion ($9.29 billion) in the third quarter of 2022. In the first nine months of 2023, the total remittances of expatriates amounted to approximately SR93.22 billion ($24.86 billion), down from SR111.42 billion ($29.7 billion) in the corresponding period of 2022.

It is worth noting that remittances to the Middle East and North Africa region decreased by 3.8% in 2022, totaling $64 billion, following a substantial growth rate of 12.2% in 2021, as reported by the World Bank. The region's economies experienced varied remittance inflows, with some Maghreb countries showing slight increases.

The World Bank anticipates a 1.7% increase in remittance flows to the region in 2023. Prospects differ among countries in the region based on factors like host country dominance and susceptibility to inflation and financial market fluctuations.

The average cost of sending $200 to the region was 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 6.4% the previous year, according to the World Bank.