This appendix to the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, presents the economic concept of remittances, describes the components of balance of payments data that are to be used in calculating remittances (“personal transfers” replace the previously used “worker remittances”), and offers three different definitions of remittances that draw on this data:

1. Personal remittances: household-to-household transfers and the net earnings of nonresident workers;
2. Total remittances: personal remittances plus social security and pension transfers;
3. Total remittances and transfers to nonprofit institutions serving households: total remittances plus donations, in cash or kind, from government and enterprise sectors to charitable organizations in another economy that provide cultural and educational resources, such as scholarships, to households.

The appendix considers how to distinguish migrants’ remittances from investments and refines concepts used in defining and compiling remittance data.