## UNITED STATES: Personal Transfers in the U.S. International Accounts

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [UNITED STATES: Personal Transfers in the U.S. International Accounts](https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/united-states-personal-transfers-in-the-us-international-accounts)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/united-states-personal-transfers-in-the-us-international-accounts/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/united-states-personal-transfers-in-the-us-international-accounts/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/united-states-personal-transfers-in-the-us-international-accounts/bundle-manifest.json)

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### Introduction and key statistic
- U.S. personal transfer payments—current transfers in cash or in kind sent by the foreign-born population resident in the United States to households abroad—grew from $21.9 billion in 1999 to $50.9 billion in 2018.
- BEA records personal transfers in the U.S. international transactions accounts; BEA’s estimates reflect transfers from the foreign-born population resident in the United States, including transfers sent through informal channels.
- A portion of personal transfer activity falls within the scope of informal activities as defined by the IMF Task Force on Informal Economy (TFIE), which covers cross-border transactions and positions that arise from informal, underground, and/or illegal activities.

### Scope
- Definition of coverage:
  - Current transfers in cash or in kind sent by the foreign-born population resident in the United States, regardless of legal status, to households abroad.
  - Includes transfers sent through both formal and informal channels.
- Definition of foreign-born population resident in the United States:
  - Those who have resided, or intend to reside, in the United States for one year or more.
- Channels:
  - Formal channels include banks, credit unions, money transfer organizations (MTO) such as wire services, and postal services.
  - Informal channels include hand-carried cash and courier services.

### Compilation, methodology, and data sources
- Estimation model inputs:
  - Size of the foreign-born population.
  - Income of the foreign-born population.
  - Percentage of income remitted by the foreign-born population.
- Data sources for model inputs:
  - Annual source data for population size, demographic characteristics, and income: U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS).
  - Percentage of income remitted estimates: BEA estimates based on the Census Bureau’s 2008 migration supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), BEA research, and academic studies.
- Demographic characteristics used in the model:
  - Duration of stay in the United States.
  - Family type (presence/absence of spouse; presence/absence of roommates).
  - Country of origin.
- Methodological notes:
  - The percentage of income remitted varies by demographic characteristics, including country of birth.
  - Model parameters are based on the 2008 migration supplement to the CPS.

### Current challenges in measurement
- Survey underreporting:
  - Respondents may underestimate personal transfer values due to difficulty recalling every transfer sent during the previous year and lack of trust in confidentiality (Greico et. al, 2010).
  - BEA’s methodology attempts to address likely underreporting.
- Censoring and data limitations:
  - Published CPS microdata censors reported personal transfers and income values to avoid disclosure.
  - CPS reports income within categories rather than exact amounts and censors values above an upper income limit.
  - BEA is exploring econometric methods to attenuate bias from censoring.
- Model limitations:
  - Small sample sizes in regressions for smaller remittance-receiving countries.
  - Potential failure to fully capture changes in remittance behavior over time because model parameters derive from the 2008 CPS supplement.
- Limitations of alternative source data (banks/MTOs):
  - Bank and MTO data do not capture transfers through informal channels.
  - Separate data for informal channels often do not exist or would require data sharing frameworks that do not currently exist.
  - Difficulty distinguishing personal transfers from other transactions (business investments, real estate transactions, other financial transactions by private investors and diaspora members) in bank/MTO data.
  - Difficulty distinguishing intermediate flows between countries from flows to final recipients if transfers pass through intermediate countries.

### Conclusions and ongoing work
- Obtaining accurate and timely source data for measuring personal transfers is challenging, compounded by a portion of activity falling within informal economic activities that are difficult to measure.
- Main measurement challenges include:
  - Correcting for underreporting on surveys.
  - Addressing censoring within source data.
  - Reliance on model parameters estimated from regressions based on the 2008 CPS supplement.
  - Limitations of alternative source data such as banks and MTOs.
- BEA continues to explore potential new source data and methods to improve estimates of personal transfers.

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## Content in this bundle

- [Guide (PDF)](/external/np/sta/bop/2008/rcg/pdf/guide.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}
- [18 10 (PDF)](/external/pubs/ft/bop/2018/pdf/18-10.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"}

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## References

- [Informal Economy Reports](https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/data/statistics/informal-economy-data/reports/united-states-personal-transfers-in-the-us-international-accounts_