The value of remittances to Romania in 2021 reached EUR 316 million, an increase of 79% compared to 2020, as shown by data provided by Revolut app with 18 million customers globally, of which over 1.5 million in Romania. At the same time, the number of remittances generated by Revolut customers to Romania increased by 84% in 2021 compared to 2020, while the number of customers using the Revolut app to send money to their families increased by 70%.
With most countries having adopted measures to limit international mobility, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the number of Romanians who worked or temporarily lived abroad has decreased, without affecting the remittance behaviour, which resulted in an increase of average amount sent per user (+ 5%, in 2021 vs 2020). In 2021, the average annual value of remittances to the home economy, via Revolut, was 3,258 EUR per Romanian user and this type of transaction registered by the financial application originated from 49 foreign countries.
Gabriela Simion, Revolut Romania Branch Head, said: ”In the last 2 years, remittances had a remarkable dynamic, confirming that Revolut super-app is the appropriate, secure and easy-to-use tool to instantly and recurrently send money to relatives, friends, family everywhere and anytime. We are grateful to our customers for the trust they put in our super-app, contributing with around half a billion euro locally, in the last 24 months”.
The profile of Revolut customer remitting money to the family, in 2021
The profile of the Revolut customer remitting money to Romania has the following characteristics: 25-34 years old (41% of users, according to the total value sent to Romania by this age group), living and working in the United Kingdom (70% of Romanian registered users), who has remitted to the family or the loved ones, on average, 495 EUR/ transaction, in 2021.
The biggest inflow of money through Revolut was generated by Romanian residents in Great Britain (66%) of total volume, followed by the ones in Germany (6%), Netherlands (5%), Ireland (4%), France (3%). In the top 10, can be found countries such as Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, but also Spain and Italy, where Romanian communities count over 1 million people. As for the age breakdown of the users remitting money to Romania, customers aged 25-34 came in the first place (41% of total sent amount), followed by 35-44 y.o (34%), 45-54 y.o. (13%) and 18-24 (9%).
According to data provided by Eurostat, in 2019 Romania benefited from a money inflow from the diaspora through remittances amounting to EUR 7.3 billion (of which almost EUR 5.6 billion from the EU). In 2020, total remittances fell to almost EUR 6.7 billion, of which EUR 5 billion from the EU countries (source: Eurostat). Romania is one of the EU Member States for which the contribution of remittances to GDP is important, representing about 3.1% of gross domestic product by 2020.
In Romania, Revolut operates through Revolut Payments UAB and Revolut Bank, institutions established in the Republic of Lithuania.
