BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, June 13. The value and number of money transfers through Western Union in Kyrgyzstan exhibited contrasting trends in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
Data obtained by Trend from the country's National Bank showed that the volume of incoming transfers through Western Union declined, with transactions down 9.8 percent year-on-year to 47,560 transactions and the total amount of transfers down 7.8 percent to 2.175 billion soms ($24.8 million).
Conversely, outgoing transfers through Western Union increased in the same period compared to the first quarter of 2024. The number of outgoing transactions rose by 22.2 percent to 11,850, with the total value increasing by 18.6 percent to 1.207 billion soms ($13.8 million).
Overall, the combined total value of transfers through the Western Union system remained relatively stable, with a slight increase of 0.15 percent, rising from 3.376 billion soms ($38.6 million) in Q1 2024 to 3.382 billion soms ($38.67) in Q1 2025.
Inbound transfers through international money transfer systems in Kyrgyzstan across all currencies reached 2.818 million transactions totaling 68 billion soms ($777.5 million)—an increase of 1.8 times in the number of transactions and 1.6 times in volume year-on-year. Bishkek accounted for 33.8 percent of the total inbound transfer volume during this period.
Outbound international money transfers across all currencies reached 117,300 transactions worth 11.3 billion soms ($129.2 million), showing a 1.7 percent increase in transactions and a 7.6 percent rise in volume. Bishkek dominated outbound transfers, accounting for 75.3 percent of the total transfer volume during the period.
