Immigrants send 18 times more money out of Angola than the diaspora sends back: the imbalance putting pressure on Angola's foreign exchange reserves.

For every dollar the Angolan diaspora sends back to the country, approximately 18 dollars leave in the form of outward immigrant transfers. Data from the first quarter of 2026—calculated by Economia & Mercado based on information from the National Bank of Angola (BNA)—confirm a structural pattern that has persisted for years and continues to drain foreign currency from the national economy.

Capital outflows fell by 11% compared to the same period in 2025, dropping from $66 million to $58.8 million. Even so, they were 18.4 times higher than the mere $3.2 million sent by Angolans abroad (a 19.6% increase over the previous year's $2.7 million). The net negative balance stood at $55.6 million for the quarter alone.

Who sends money and where

Portuguese nationals working in Angola continue to overwhelmingly dominate outward transfers, accounting for $43.7 million, or 74.4% of the total. They are followed by Chinese nationals ($4.5 million, 7.6%) and Vietnamese nationals ($1.7 million, 2.9%).

In the opposite direction, the largest contribution came from Angolans residing in Portugal ($0.7 million, 23.1% of the total received), followed by those in the United States ($0.6 million, 17%) and the United Kingdom ($0.3 million, 8.4%).

A decades-long problem

This imbalance is nothing new. In 2024, immigrants sent approximately $246.6 million abroad (a 43% drop compared to 2023), while the Angolan diaspora sent back only $14 million—the highest figure since 2014, yet still a negligible amount. The deficit in the balance of remittances and personal transfers hovered around $232.6 million. In 2025, remittances sent via non-bank financial institutions fell by 36.6% to $19.17 million. Experts point to the high fees charged by official platforms as the primary cause: many customers have shifted to informal and digital channels that operate off the BNA's radar. Inflows also declined, dropping from $16.75 million in 2024 to $14.02 million.