The figure dipped 15.6% from $2.38 billion in the fourth quarter last year, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s Region 2 branch. Tran Thi Ngoc Lien, deputy director of the branch, said the decline reflects multiple external and domestic factors.

A slow and uneven global economic recovery has weighed on the incomes of overseas Vietnamese, while persistently high inflation in many countries has increased living costs, reducing savings and the capacity to remit money home.

Prolonged monetary tightening in major economies has also put pressure on production and business activities, indirectly affecting workers’ earnings and remittance flows to Vietnam.

Geopolitical tensions, particularly conflicts in the Middle East, have further exacerbated energy price volatility and global inflation, impacting real incomes. In some countries hosting Vietnamese workers, economic disruptions have posed risks to employment and earnings, thereby limiting remittances. However, the central bank noted that the direct impact remains limited as remittances from these markets account for a relatively small share.

Domestically, macroeconomic stability has been maintained, but investment channels have yet to become sufficiently attractive to draw strong remittance inflows. Meanwhile, the modest interest rate gap between the Vietnamese dong and the U.S. dollar has also influenced transfer decisions.