FactCheck: Remittances Rose by US$96m in 2025—Not US$54m as Claimed

Diaspora Remittances Digitised using data from CBG Portal © Askanwi

By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT

At the recent Stake in the Nation Forum (SNF9) organised by the Migration Sustainable Development Goals (MSDG)—a now traditional platform where Gambians in the Diaspora engage government officials and where annual remittance figures are publicly announced—our reporter identified an error that continues to circulate in the media.

The Claim

Speaking on behalf of the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG), Ms Faye stated that “total inflows stood at approximately US$872.05 million in 2025.” She further claimed that remittances have shown “steady growth in recent years,” adding that 2025 recorded a “US$54.42 million increase in Diaspora remittances compared to 2024, representing over 30% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

The Fact Check

As a newsroom that closely tracks Diaspora remittances, alarm bells rang immediately after the announcement. A quick comparison with the previous year’s officially reported figures suggested that the increase cited did not add up.

Our initial calculations showed that Diaspora remittances rose by over US$90 million, not US$54 million as claimed.

To verify this, our reporter made further enquiries and confirmed that the Central Bank of The Gambia maintains an online portal containing official Diaspora remittance data dating back to 2010. Using this portal, we downloaded remittance figures covering 2016 to 2025, which are reproduced below.

Based on this dataset, we analysed:

• The years with the highest and lowest remittance inflows, and

• The years that recorded the largest and smallest annual increases in Diaspora remittances.

Annual Increases and Decreases on Daispora Remittances © Askanwi

Discussion

Data from the CBG portal shows that the highest Diaspora remittances were recorded in 2025, 2024, and 2021, while the lowest levels were observed between 2016 and 2018.

A sharp spike occurred in 2020 and 2021, coinciding with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the largest increases in remittances were recorded during the first two years of the pandemic, underscoring the critical role the Diaspora played in supporting households during that period.

• From 2019 to 2020, the highest-ever increase of approximately US$260 million was recorded.

• This was followed by the second-highest increase of about US$187 million from 2020 to 2021.

• The US$96.42 million increase recorded between 2024 and 2025 ranks as the third-highest increase since 2016.

On the other end of the spectrum are two years when Diaspora Remittances contracted, which occurred in 2016, declining by almost US$ 9 million, and in 2022, by almost US$ 64 million.

Diaspora Remittances Digitised using data from CBG Portal © Askanwi

Verdict

• The claim that Diaspora remittances stood at US$872.05 million in 2025 is accurate and confirmed by data from the CBG portal.

• However, the claim that remittances increased by US$54.42 million between 2024 and 2025 contradicts official CBG data.

In reality, Diaspora remittances increased by US$96.42 million, not US$54.42 million as stated by Ms Faye.

The discrepancy of approximately US$42 million is significant—equivalent to D3.066 billion at an exchange rate of D73 to US$1.

Given the scale and impact of this difference, the claim regarding the size of the increase in Diaspora remittances is misleading and false.