Investing abroad has emerged as the fastest-growing category for which Indians remit their money. According to the RBI May bulletin, investment remittances leapt from $306.30 million in March 2025 to $440.22 million in March 2026 — a year-on-year jump of 43.7%.
With $178.86 million in January, $265.99 million in February, and $440.22 million in March—more than doubling from January to March 2026 alone—the monthly pattern demonstrates strength.
This probably reflects Indian citizens’ growing diversification into international debt instruments and stocks, a tendency that has quickened as more international brokerage platforms enable foreign investment.
Travel Remains the Dominant Force
Travel is overwhelmingly the largest category, and for March 2026, the RBI has broken it down into sub-heads for the first time in this dataset, revealing a striking picture.
The top-line travel figure was $1,004.60 million in March 2026 — compared to $1,307.03 million in February 2026 (a 23.1% fall) and $1,125.55 million in March 2025. So year-on-year, travel remittances are down about 10.7%.
Within travel, the sub-categories for March 2026 are:
Other travel (holiday trips and international credit card payments): $623.05 million — the single largest sub-head, suggesting leisure and card-linked spending dominate outward travel flows
- Education abroad: $450.16 million — a massive number, reflecting fees, hostel, and living expenses sent to overseas institutions
- Business travel: $16.05 million
- Medical travel: $2.79 million
- Pilgrimage: $2.55 million
Deposits Abroad
Deposits nearly tripled from $48.60 million in January 2026 to $176.35 million in March 2026 — a 263% jump in just two months, and up 1.8% year-on-year versus March 2025’s $173.17 million. This suggests Indians are parking money in foreign bank accounts toward the financial year close.
Purchase of Immovable Property
Property purchases abroad continued to shrink — $38.68 million in March 2026 versus $45.10 million in March 2025 (a 14.2% fall year-on-year). The January-February-March 2026 trajectory also shows a consistent sequential decline through the quarter.
Big Picture
The total stood at $2,547.57 million in March 2025, dropped slightly to $2,338.60 million in February 2026, before recovering to $2,594.87 million in March 2026 — broadly flat year-on-year and up 10.9% from February to March 2026. RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme data, as per the May bulletin, shows $29,563 million outward remittances under the LRS in FY2024-25.
The monthly trajectory from January ($2,680.43 million) through February ($2,338.60 million, a sharp 12.8% drop) and then back up in March ($2,594.87 million) shows how the outward remittance moved this year.
Travel and family maintenance continue to be the key drivers of India’s external remittances under LRS, but the data’s breakthrough trend is the rise in equity/debt investment flows. Despite being the largest single head, travel is the biggest decliner in absolute terms, whereas investment in equity/debt stands out as the clear outperformer (+43.7% YoY).
Disclaimer: The data cited is sourced from the Reserve Bank of India’s May 2026 Bulletin. This article is for general awareness only and should not be construed as investment or financial advice.