The Balance of Payments (BoP) keeps a record of all economic transactions of India with other countries on an annual basis. The BoP consists of two accounts- Current Account and Capital Account.

Current Account = Balance of Trade (BoT) + Balance of Invisible (BoI). BoT is calculated as (Exports- Imports) and it includes only the merchandise goods. Balance of Invisibles (BoI) includes the net of services, income and remittances.

The current account basically includes the trade in goods and services, as well as remittances. The capital account includes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI), External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) etc.

India receives the world’s highest remittances as shown in the graph below:

Top Remittance Receivers in 2018