Foreign currency remittances sent by emigrants to Cape Verde rose 12% year-over-year in the first quarter, according to central bank data cited by Lusa in connection with International Remittances Day.
The total for the first three months of this year amounts to 75.4 million euros and follows the trend of record figures recorded in 2024 and 2025, according to the Bank of Cape Verde (BCV).
Portugal remains the source of more than one-third of remittances (34.8%), followed by the United States (26.3%) and France (17.3%).
The main destination municipalities also remain the most populous: Praia, São Vicente, and Santa Catarina.
Although there have been ups and downs in money transfers to the archipelago, the value of accumulated deposits from emigrants in the archipelago’s banks has been growing since 2019.
According to the same BCV bulletin, by 2025, the amount had reached approximately 540 million euros.
In the first quarter of this year, the total continued to grow, and emigrant deposits surpassed the 544 million euro mark in February, reaching 545 million euros by the end of March.
Remittances are one of the main pillars of the Cape Verdean economy, alongside tourism, reflecting the significance of the diaspora, estimated at around 1.5 million people—roughly three times the population of the archipelago.
Source: Lusa
