In the first six months of 2026, total remittances to Ho Chi Minh City reached 4.037 billion USD, down 22.8% compared with the same period in 2025 and down 21% compared with the second half of 2025.
Asia and the Americas remained the two largest sources of remittances. In the April to June period, remittances from Asia amounted to more than 1.002 billion USD, followed by the Americas with 672.6 million USD, Oceania with 195.7 million USD, Europe with 154.1 million USD, and Africa with 7.6 million USD.
For the first half of the year, Asia ranked first with 1.916 billion USD, followed by the Americas with 1.375 billion USD. Together, the two regions constituted more than 81% of total remittances to the city, while Oceania contributed 418.3 million USD.
Tran Thi Ngoc Lien, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Viet Nam’s Region 2 Branch, pointed out that slower global economic growth, inflation, rising living costs, and tighter immigration policies in some countries had dented the incomes of overseas Vietnamese.
Domestically, the central bank noted that some investment channels had yet to become sufficiently attractive to lure remittance inflows.
The fact that foreign currency deposit interest rates remain at 0% has prompted some overseas Vietnamese to keep their funds abroad or switch to other investment assets.
In addition, remittance flows have become more dispersed across a growing range of payment channels, resulting in a relative decline in remittance transactions conducted through the banking system.
The central bank projects that, provided the global economy experiences no major disruptions, remittances to Ho Chi Minh City could reach 8.6–8.9 billion USD in 2026.
The recovery is expected to become more pronounced in the final months of the year as international monetary policies gradually ease, exchange rates remain stable, and banking-sector policies aimed at attracting remittances from overseas Vietnamese gain further traction.
