Foreign remittances of expatriate workers went down by nearly 10 percent to SR12.9 billion this January from SR14.3 billion in December 2014, projecting a decrease of SR2.7 billion in a single month.

The January remittance (SR12.9 billion) was the lowest since November 2014 when the amount reached SR12.55 billion. The January 2015 figure was 3 percent lower than that of January 2014 (SR13.3 billion), showing a difference of SR377 million.

The per capita remittance of expats amounted to SR1,282 in January, official figures showed.

As to Saudi foreign transfers, the amount went down in January by 37 percent to SR4.65 billion from SR7.38 billion in December 2014. Compared to January 2014, the figure was 40 percent down.

Saudi and non-Saudi personal foreign transfers declined by 19 percent in January 2015, to stand at SR17.6 billion compared to SR21.7 billion in December 2014, showing a decrease of SR4 billion in a single month.

Non-Saudi foreign remittances accounted for 73 percent of the total personal transfers in Saudi Arabia last January with Saudi transfers accounting for only 27 percent.

Statistics say that the total population of Saudi Arabia at the end of 2014 was 30.8 million people, with foreigners forming a third of that number, 32.7 percent or 10.1 million people. The population of Saudis reached 20.7 million or 67.3 percent of the total population of the country.

According to figures released by the Department of Statistics and Information, an affiliate of the Ministry of Economy and Planning,