RIYADH • Expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia sent home some $14bn in 2006, ranking the oil-rich kingdom second only to the United States, according to the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).

Remittances from Saudi Arabia represented more than half of the total transfers made by foreign workers in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Saudi daily al-Medina reported yesterday, quoting the Arab Monetary Fund report.

The GCC bloc, which groups Saudi Arabia with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, saw outflows of some $25.7bn in remittances during 2006, the newspaper said.

Expatriates make up more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia's total population of around 23 million, according to official figures published in September 2004.

Al Medina said expatriate workers in the United States made the highest amount in transfers at $39bn. Switzerland came third with around $13bn, followed by Germany with around $10bn.

The total amount of remittances sent to Arab countries – especially Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco – was around $24bn in 2006, a rise of 53 per cent from 2001, the Arab Monetary Fund report added.