Foreign remittances by expatriates in Saudi Arabia rose by 22 percent in March to SR 14.3 billion compared to SR11.7 billion in same period last year, local media said.

Remittances of foreigners in March are the highest since the beginning of the current year compared to Jan and Feb figures (2014) which stood at SR 13.3 billion and SR12 billion, respectively, according to an analytical study by Al-Eqtisadiyah daily.

Personal remittances of Saudi nationals, meanwhile, grew by 19 percent to SR8 billion in March compared to SR6.7 billion in the same period last year but registered a 6 percent growth compared to February figures which stood at SR6.5 billion, the report said.

On the other hand, personal foreign remittances of both Saudi nationals and expats rose by 21 percent to SR22.3 billion in March compared to SR 18.5 billion in the same period last year.

They, however, grew by 14 percent compared to SR 19.5 billion in Feb. 2014, the report said.

Based on the latest data released by the Central Department of Statistics and Information (CDSI), the number of expats residing in the Kingdom reached 9.7 million, or 32.4 percent of the Kingdom’s total population, whereas the Saudi citizens constituted the remaining 67.6 percent of population.

Accordingly, the expatriate share in the total remittances stood at SR 1,472 in March.

Foreign remittances by expatriates in the Kingdom recorded the highest figure in the last 20 years (1994-2013) to hit SR148 billion in 2013, up by 18 percent compared to 2012 (SR125.2 billion), the report said.