We can think of these private transfers of capital as an unofficial form of foreign aid.

Remittances start in higher-income economies…
There is an obvious relationship of remittances between high- and low-income countries. Remittances originate in countries where employment is available and tend to end up in countries where workers often receive subsistence wages.
…and are sent to low-income economies
Remittances sent to Lebanon, for example, account for 38% of gross domestic product. In El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica and Haiti, remittances are expected to exceed 20% of GDP this year. In Mexico, where the population and economy are larger, remittances account for only 4% of gross domestic product.
After declining, remittances are back on track…
Remittances dropped in 2020 when economies were closed and employment and excess income were harder to come by. Then they increased as economies reopened last year but were not followed by a post-pandemic spike. That speaks to the informal employment that is typical of U.S. migrants. The reestablishment of remittances can be attributed to the tightening labor markets in advanced economies, the spurt of growth in the post-pandemic era, the increase in wages and the rise in the dollar’s value where applicable. In Europe, a weaker euro had the opposite effect of reducing the U.S. dollar valuation of remittance flows to North Africa and elsewhere.