<p>There is no contradiction here as not every transfer is a remittance.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=remittance%20etymology&amp;oq=remittance%20ety&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57.7174j1j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">remit</a></em> <br>
  late Middle English: from Latin remittere ‘send back, restore’</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It is my understanding that the word remittance is usually used to describe transfers by foreign workers to their home countries. From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>These transfers may be conducted via SWIFT. As such they make up a small part of all SWIFT traffic, which would also include domestic payments, international business transfers, etc. So it is quite possible that the yearly volume of remittances is $\$5 \cdot 10^{11} $ whereas the yearly volume of SWIFT transfers is $\$1.25 \cdot 10^{15} $.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-11T13:11:57.880Z
2018-02-11T13:11:57.880Z
Giskard
<p>The source below says 
"According to this document from the US Treasury, SWIFT handles about \$5 trillion per day, or given about 250 business days per year, about \$1.25 quadrillion dollars a year.".
<a href="https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/9165/how-much-money-is-wire-transferred-every-year-worldwide/9184?newreg=3e1caab94de140b08a76905724b69f70">How much money is wire transferred every year worldwide?</a></p>

<p>However this source below says 
"Worldwide, 230 million people send \$500 billion in remittances each year".
<a href="https://qz.com/775159/theres-a-500-billion-remittance-market-and-bitcoin-startups-want-in-on-it/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://qz.com/775159/theres-a-500-billion-remittance-market-and-bitcoin-startups-want-in-on-it/</a></p>

<p>Why is the annual transferred money worldwide quite different?
Could you tell me the correct figure?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-11T13:07:54.623Z
Please can you [edit] the question to describe why you would expect remittances by private individuals to be anything other than a tiny tiny proportion of all transfers?
410 gone
<money>
Why is the annual transferred money worldwide quite different?
SAITOU Kousuke
# Why is the annual transferred money worldwide quite different?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-11)

The source below says
"According to this document from the US Treasury, SWIFT handles about \$5 trillion per day, or given about 250 business days per year, about \$1.25 quadrillion dollars a year.".
[How much money is wire transferred every year worldwide?](https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/9165/how-much-money-is-wire-transferred-every-year-worldwide/9184?newreg=3e1caab94de140b08a76905724b69f70)

However this source below says
"Worldwide, 230 million people send \$500 billion in remittances each year".
<https://qz.com/775159/theres-a-500-billion-remittance-market-and-bitcoin-startups-want-in-on-it/>

Why is the annual transferred money worldwide quite different?
Could you tell me the correct figure?

**Tags:** money

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Please can you [edit] the question to describe why you would expect remittances by private individuals to be anything other than a tiny tiny proportion of all transfers?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-11. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

There is no contradiction here as not every transfer is a remittance.

> *[remit](https://www.google.com/search?q=remittance%20etymology&oq=remittance%20ety&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57.7174j1j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)*   
> late Middle English: from Latin remittere ‘send back, restore’

It is my understanding that the word remittance is usually used to describe transfers by foreign workers to their home countries. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remittance):

> A remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.

These transfers may be conducted via SWIFT. As such they make up a small part of all SWIFT traffic, which would also include domestic payments, international business transfers, etc. So it is quite possible that the yearly volume of remittances is $\$5 \cdot 10^{11} $ whereas the yearly volume of SWIFT transfers is $\$1.25 \cdot 10^{15} $.


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