Remittances from Egyptians working abroad continue to record growth rates at the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year, having risen by 29.6% in the period from July 2025 to June 2026 to reach about $47.3 billion, compared with $36.5 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The remittances had risen from $19.5 billion in 2023 to register $41.5 billion by the end of 2025, a growth rate of 40.5% compared with 2024, which recorded about $29.6 billion.
Remittances from Egyptians abroad exceeded 11% of the gross domestic product for 2025, which amounted to about $365 billion, according to Zawia3’s statistical analysis of data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
While Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly praises the resilience of the Egyptian economy following the growth of remittances from Egyptians abroad, some economists also celebrate these remittances as evidence of the Egyptian economy’s ability to attract Egyptians’ money, in what was described as “the expatriate must support his country in the current economic circumstances so that his participation is reflected in development”.
The remittances of Egyptians abroad are defined as the money or goods that workers and migrants send to their families in their countries of origin through official channels, such as banks, exchange companies and the post, to meet their living needs and support their incomes. Meanwhile, about 22% of these funds worldwide are directed to investment in food and agricultural systems in rural areas.
Only in Dollars… Can You Benefit from the State
State initiatives aim to attract the dollar savings of expatriates through numerous tools. The “Tomorrow’s Pension in Dollars” policy remains an example of this, as the policy allows Egyptians abroad to save through a founding instalment starting from $500 up to a maximum of $10,000 a year, with the possibility of paying additional instalments starting from $50 to increase the savings benefits.
In parallel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the Central Bank, launched the “Open Your Account in Egypt” initiative, which facilitates the procedures for opening foreign-currency bank accounts for expatriates through diplomatic missions. At the same time, the state also launched the “Updating Bank Data from Abroad” initiative to remove obstacles to banking transactions and prevent the freezing of accounts of customers residing away from the homeland.
Along the same lines, the state launched the “Import of Cars for Egyptians Abroad” initiative for residents abroad, granting them the right to import one private car in exchange for depositing 30% of the value of the customs duty as an interest-free dollar deposit with the Central Bank of Egypt for 5 years, after which it is refunded in pounds at the exchange rate announced at the time of refund. This initiative generated cash proceeds that exceeded $900 million, less than half of the initiative’s target.
In the same context, the state launched the “Your Home in Egypt” initiative in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing, which made available prime housing units and plots of land in the new cities through dedicated electronic booking platforms, with their value paid in foreign currency from abroad. Added to this is the “Beit El-Watan” project, which provides plots of land and apartments in strategic locations at affordable prices on condition of payment in dollars.
The “Your Farm in Egypt” initiative was also launched to allocate reclaimed agricultural land to expatriates in exchange for foreign currency. In addition, there is the “Settling the Military Service Status of Egyptians Abroad” initiative in exchange for paying 5,000 dollars or euros, before it was later raised to 7,000.
The State’s Eye on the Expatriates’ Dollar and Euro
The views of Egyptian communities abroad reveal demands that call for continuous improvements to their conditions, according to Dr Asaad Abdel Rahman, professor of international law at Libya’s University of Zawiya. He tells Zawia3 that the education file tops the demands of Egyptian families residing abroad, particularly the equivalence of secondary and university certificates for students wishing to complete their studies at Egyptian universities.
The main point of contention lies in the decision of the Supreme Council of Universities, which sets the rules for the equivalence of the certificates of students studying abroad by requiring that the student’s total score be no more than 5%, as a maximum, below the minimum admission score for the equivalent faculty at private and national universities in Egypt in the year he obtained his general secondary certificate, according to “Asaad”, who has lived in Libya for more than 30 years.
He adds that the state refuses to grant equivalence to certificates issued through e-learning or distance-learning systems, while the professor of international law believes that Egyptian communities see the 5% condition as imposing restrictions on the future of their children, who study in educational environments with different assessment systems.
The Ministry of Higher Education and the Supreme Council of Universities, meanwhile, state that the decision was issued after extensive study to curb violations and to ensure equal opportunities and the quality of graduates, according to the ministry.
For his part, Mohamed Abu Diab, who is in charge of an Islamic centre and has lived in Spain with his family since 2010, calls for a parallel focus on developing an umbrella of services not linked to payment in dollars or euros, expressing surprise at the focus of state initiatives on material frameworks paid for in hard currency (such as importing cars, settling military service status, investment certificates and real-estate units).
He also points out, in his conversation with Zawia3, that the communities are demanding a reduction in the fees for consular transactions and powers of attorney, faster procedures for issuing and renewing civil status documents, the provision of comprehensive health insurance mechanisms for Egyptian workers abroad, and the activation of legal protection and welfare programmes for workers.
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Dollars Only… Without Services
Egyptians abroad bear high financial burdens for consular services, Abdel Rahman Aql, an accountant working in Saudi Arabia, tells Zawia3. He explains that issuing a general power of attorney can cost between SAR 250 and SAR 300, while renewing a passport costs about SAR 700 to SAR 800, fees that exceed the cost of the same procedures inside Egypt. He also notes that most of the embassy’s services are confined to consular procedures and their associated fees, which take longer than at all other diplomatic missions.
He points to the absence of consular support for citizens when they face crises, explaining, for example, that an Egyptian is forced to follow up his cases himself before the competent authorities and to hire a lawyer without support from the embassy, whereas diplomatic missions are expected to support citizens in cases of disputes or legal problems.
He goes on to say that many of the complaints of Egyptians abroad currently concern the imposition of fees on mobile phones brought in by travellers, which angers them, especially as the devices are for personal use or are gifts for children and relatives, noting that the prices of some phones in the Egyptian market are higher than abroad despite the fees imposed on them.
He also notes that some Arab embassies organise cultural and social events that strengthen communication among members of their communities, something he wishes Egyptian missions would also do.
In addition, Ahmed Hashem, an expatriate in Turkey, points to the attention that Egyptians abroad receive from some diplomatic missions, particularly when compared with what some other Arab states provide to their nationals, even though those states have fewer resources and economic capabilities than Egypt. He also describes the Egyptian student unions there as weak in influence compared with their counterparts from other countries.
He explains to Zawia3 that the communities of some countries, such as Syria, Palestine and Yemen, receive clear support in the fields of education and various services through official bodies in their countries, noting that the embassies serve as the coordinating umbrella for those services through cultural and educational attaché offices and others, and considering that a large segment of those working abroad, especially students, do not feel supported by the state.
“Hashem” notes that a large number of Egyptians abroad work in more than one job to secure their needs and build up savings that enable them to build their future, but they collide with inflation in Egypt, which moves at a faster pace than their ability to save, explaining that inflation has weakened the purchasing power of the savings of Egyptians abroad, as the money they put aside over years no longer achieves the goals they pursued, such as buying a home, setting up a business or securing a stable life after returning to their homelands.
He claims that a large proportion of the offices that handle completing Egyptians’ travel procedures as soon as they arrive abroad engage in fraud or provide unreliable services, which he describes as “a lack of oversight by the Egyptian embassy”, leaving citizens vulnerable to exploitation. He also alleges that Egyptian embassies extend their support to those attending the gatherings that the embassies organise during official visits with flags and celebrations, but turn a blind eye to those who do not take part.
Abdullah Abu Zeid, one of the Egyptians residing in Turkey, said that he had faced great difficulties in the past period because of passport renewal procedures, explaining that he had to travel to Egypt about a month and a half ago to obtain a new passport, but the procedures for obtaining the final exemption certificate from military service took longer than expected and nearly caused him to miss the date of his return to his place of residence abroad.
As for Abdullah Abu Zeid, one of the Egyptian students in Turkey, he recounts that he faced great difficulty while trying to renew his passport, as he had to travel to Egypt for this purpose, particularly to obtain the final exemption certificate from military service, in a chain of complications.
He explains to Zawia3 that the intervention of some officials helped complete the procedures hours before his departure time, which enabled him to return to Turkey to complete the passport renewal procedures through the Egyptian consulate there, but the consulate informed him that renewing the passport requires an approval that takes about 3 months, even though all his documents are complete, which puts him in a real crisis, especially as his residence abroad is about to expire.
He also points out that a number of Egyptians returning from abroad face, according to him, humiliating inspection procedures at Cairo Airport compared with foreigners, noting that some travellers are forced to open their bags and undergo customs procedures on personal belongings and gifts they brought for their families, which angers many of those working abroad.
Regarding the complaints and hopes of Egyptians abroad, Zawia3 contacted the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Ambassador Tamim Khallaf, but had not received a reply by the time of publication.
Egyptians abroad have become one of the most important sources of foreign currency for the Egyptian economy, and while government initiatives focus on attracting dollar savings through investment, housing and financing programmes, the expatriates’ demands are led by other files more closely tied to their daily lives, such as developing consular services, facilitating education procedures and strengthening legal and social protection.
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