FOI reference: FOI-2026-3530
You asked
Does the ONS hold estimates of remittance outflows broken down by destination country? If so, please provide the most recent available figures.
What is the ONS's current assessment of the margin of error or confidence interval attached to its remittance outflow estimates?
We said
Thank you for your request.
Q1. Personal remittance-related statistics in Pink Book are split between two core aspects:
Personal transfers (between households), which are included in Table 5.1
Compensation of employees, which are in table 4.1
These aspects are standard reporting components for personal remittances in the BPM6 international standards with which ONS complies for Balance of payments statistics. Additional aspects are voluntary for inclusion in remittance statistics but are not included in our reporting.
According to the Balance of Payments Manual Sixth Edition appendix 5, 'Personal remittances are defined as current and capital transfers in cash or in kind between resident households and non-resident households, plus compensation of employees, less taxes and social contributions paid by non-resident workers in the economy of employment, less transport and travel expenditures related to working abroad. In short, this item includes all household-to-household transfers and the net earnings of non-resident workers.' To compile remittances data various components are needed, please see table A5.1 in appendix 5 of the BPM6 manual.
In addition to the information published in Pink Book, we have previously published data at a geographical level for the UK household transfers element, for the period up to 2021. One caveat is that this analysis also includes other transfers by UK households to the rest of the world, e.g. fines.
Unfortunately, we do not hold information showing UK household transfers by country post 2021. This information would need to be created, involving complex extraction exercises, additional processing, and the application of expertise and experience to produce analysis. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public authorities are not obliged to create new information to respond to requests. This information therefore is not held.
Q2. We do not hold this information for remittance data. Remittance data are compiled from a variety of sources and would require complex additional processing and the application of expertise and experience to produce this information. Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, public authorities are not obliged to create new information to respond to requests. This information therefore is not held.