In 2023, foreign workers in Israel transferred approximately $6.4 billion to their home countries, with around 90% of foreign workers reporting that they send money home each month. Around two-thirds of Israel’s foreign workers send more than three-quarters of their income back to their home country each month, with another 23% sending between half and three-quarters. That’s according to a new study by the Center for International Migration and Integration (CIMI), which also found that many foreign workers are paying high fees in order to send money back home to their families.
According to the survey, about a quarter of foreign workers in Israel receive at least part of their salary in cash and study 88% receive all or part of their salary via bank transfers to Israeli bank accounts. Eight out of every 10 foreign workers in Israel hold bank accounts both in Israel and in their country of origin, with significant differences between groups of workers from different countries. More than 90% of workers from India hold bank accounts in both Israel and India, while only 54% of Moldovan workers in Israel have accounts in both countries.
Nearly 100% of workers from India reported receiving their wages through bank transfers to Israeli bank accounts, with 3% reporting also receiving wages in cash and 3% to a bank in India. For workers from China and the Philippines, the rate of payment through transfer to an Israeli bank stood at 90%. By contrast, only about 60% of workers from Thailand receive wages to an Israeli bank account.
Anda Barak-Bianco, the head of labor migration research at CIMI who carried out the research, explained that the variety of payment methods gives workers more flexibility in their remittance strategies, but can also complicate financial management.
The portion of money transferred back home varied among different nationalities. The highest transfer rate was among Sri Lankan workers—86% of whom send more than three-quarters of their income—and the lowest was among Filipino workers, 45% of whom send more than three-quarters of their income.
According to Barak-Bianco, this variation in remittance patterns may stem from different living costs for workers in different industries, varying family obligations, cultural influences, or debts in the home country. A strong correlation between the remittance rate and the length of stay in Israel—workers in their early period in the country tend to send a higher portion of their wages—may indicate that these workers are repaying debts incurred to finance their migration.
Many workers rely on a variety of online platforms to transfer money back home. These platforms often charge high fees, which are sometimes unknown to the workers making use of the platforms.
“Low awareness of transfer costs increases the financial vulnerability of migrant workers,” Barak-Bianco wrote. “The high rate of workers unaware of costs, 25%–52%, indicates information gaps in the remittance market and barriers to accessing information, which hinder informed financial decision-making and efficient economic behavior.”
Added to this is limited freedom of choice: 51% of Indian workers and 41% of Thai workers use the only provider they know or the one suggested by their employer. In contrast, only 11% of Filipino workers said they feel limited in choosing service providers. These gaps may reflect differences in access to information and financial independence and may also be influenced by the aggressive marketing of transfer companies at strategic locations such as Israel’s entry ports.
“When workers don’t understand the costs they’re paying, aren’t exposed to alternatives, or rely solely on informal recommendations, their financial agency is undermined,” Barak-Bianco wrote. “This situation undermines the principles of a free and competitive market and perpetuates disparities between worker groups based on knowledge, social networks, or differences in language and culture.”
She recommended that policymakers promote fee transparency regulations and define total cost standards, including exchange rate margins, mandatory disclosure in several relevant languages for major migrant worker groups, development of a simple cost-comparison tool accessible to migrant workers, integration of financial literacy training in the home country before migration to Israel, and the provision of financial information packages upon arrival. She also proposed providing incentives for new transfer companies entering the market to encourage competition, especially in less profitable transfer routes.
Barak-Bianco also suggested that civil aid organizations establish peer mentoring programs for financial guidance of migrant workers and train veteran migrants as financial mentors for new arrivals in Israel, along with targeted campaigns, financial guides, and use of popular social media channels for outreach to specific national groups.
The study was conducted via an anonymous online survey between June and November 2024, among 558 migrant workers from countries with which Israel has signed bilateral agreements: 236 from India, 92 from the Philippines, 73 from Sri Lanka, 67 from Thailand, 62 from China, and 28 from Moldova. The questionnaire was translated into six languages: Hindi, Tagalog, Sinhala, Thai, Chinese, and Russian.
