Remittance corridor · World Bank RPW · 2025Q3
Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia
Provider panel is low-tercile (3 RPW providers) on Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia - a thin survey panel versus denser routes.
- 7.9%
- Average cost
- 5.6%
- Cheapest · Western Union
- 3
- Providers tracked
How the 7.9% average cost breaks down
World Bank RPW splits total remittance cost into the provider's transaction fee and the exchange-rate margin applied to the transfer. Same 2025Q3 figures as the detail table below.
Provider-panel tercile vs fleet
RPW lists only 3 providers on this corridor - below the fleet panel tercile (~6). Average cost is 7.9%.
- #270 of 348
- cheapest-cost corpus rank
- 7.9%
- average cost of a $200 transfer
- +0.6pp
- vs the 7.3% average of 348 corridors
- +4.9pp
- gap to the UN 3% target
Compared against the 348 corridors in the 2025Q3 release, not a generic headline figure.
Based on average cost, delivery speed, FX margin, provider competition, and cost trend from World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide data, benchmarked against all 348 tracked corridors - not a quote or a prediction of what you will pay.
What changed
World Bank RPW release record: 2025Q1 to 2025Q3
- Average transfer cost changed from 7.26% to 7.85% (+0.59 percentage points).
- Lowest observed transfer cost changed from 3.75% to 5.62% (+1.87 percentage points).
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Where this corridor sits by provider panel size
Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia has 3 World Bank RPW providers among 377 tracked corridors (inventory signal, not a cost-quality ranking). Orthogonal to the cost comparison below.
Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia vs all corridors by provider count
Where this corridor's RPW provider panel sits among every tracked route
3 353rd of 377 higher than 24 of 377 corridors
Corridors, banded by RPW provider inventory
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more corridors. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide · 2026-08-10
How Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia compares
Average cost of a $200 transfer, percent, lower is cheaper
7.85% average - 4.9pp above target
Cost trend: Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia
Average and cheapest cost of a $200 transfer over time, percent
Sending Country
Nearby Corridors from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is one of the most connected sending markets in our data, with 16 tracked outbound corridors. The 5 below span the widest cost range, from the cheapest to send anywhere from Saudi Arabia through to the most expensive.
| # | Destination | Avg cost | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yemen | 2.7% | 2.3% |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 3.3% | 3.0% |
| 3 | Indonesia | 3.5% | 2.9% |
| 4 | Philippines | 3.8% | 2.6% |
| 5 | South Sudan | 4.8% | 4.8% |
World Bank RPW fee spread
Release 2025Q3 SA→ET
7.9% avg · 5.6% floor · 2.23pp spread on $200
- AVG 7.9%
- CHEAP 5.6%
- SPREAD 2.23pp
- SDG +4.8pp
- RANK #270 of 348
- REL 2025Q3
- PANEL 3
Cross-sender cost peers
Fee spread manifest for Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia: entity-varying RPW stamps plus cross-sender ABS(avg_cost) peers from the current release. Compare corridors side-by-side →
Thin provider panel on Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia
RPW records only 3 providers on Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia - below the fleet panel tercile (~6). Average cost is 7.85%.
That cheapest figure comes from the World Bank's mystery-shopping survey: trained researchers pose as customers and obtain real quotes for a standardized $200 transfer, across the 3 banks, money transfer operators, post offices and mobile-money providers RPW tracks on this corridor. It is a snapshot from that survey quarter, not a live guarantee -- confirm the current rate directly with the provider before sending.
Costs here have crept up 0.59 percentage points over the tracked period, bucking the wider trend toward cheaper transfers seen on most corridors. Across 39 quarters on record, average cost ranged 3.9%–10.7%, with 0 quarters at or under the UN 3% target. It sits 4.9 pp above the UN SDG 10.c 3% target.
About Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia data
PlainRemit compares international money-transfer costs across tracked corridors so you can see which routes and providers charge the least before you send money abroad. This corridor's figures are computed directly from the World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) quarterly survey, a mystery-shopping panel of actual transfer quotes for a standardized $200 transfer.
Average 7.85%; cheapest observed 5.62% via Western Union; 3 providers tracked across 39 RPW quarters; vintage 2026-08-10.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to send money from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia?
Average 7.85% of the transfer amount (World Bank RPW, 2025Q3) - upper fleet tercile (above ~6.6%). Cheapest observed: 5.62% via Western Union.
What is the cheapest way to send money from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia?
Lowest RPW survey quote: 5.62% (Western Union). Panel is low-tercile with only 3 providers tracked.
Is the Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia corridor meeting the UN SDG cost target?
Not yet: 7.9% is 4.9pp above the UN SDG 10.c 3% target and in the upper fleet cost tercile.
Where does Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia sit among tracked remittance corridors?
According to World Bank Remittance Prices Worldwide average cost among 348 tracked corridors on PlainRemit, Saudi Arabia → Ethiopia ranks #270 of 348 (cheapest = #1). Ordinal uses latest_avg_cost ASC matching /rankings/cheapest. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.