About £8billion is sent to family members outside the UK every year, the report from the UN’s education agency revealed.
The UK is one of the top 10 countries for overseas workers sending money home, with Nigeria, India and Pakistan the three biggest recipients.
And hundreds of millions are also sent to Poland, China, Kenya, Philippines, Bangladesh and Ghana every year.
Manos Antoninis, director of the Global Education Monitoring report, insisted payments are a “vital resource in the countries where migrants have come from”.
But the report also warned that finance firms are taking too much in fees.
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It said people sending money should only have to pay 3 percent in charges but the average charge is 7 percent.
And some charges can be as high as 20 percent.
Mr Antoninis said: “Companies should not be allowed to continue skimming off so much of the money that migrants are sending back home.
“Such transaction costs are highest for the poorest migrants.
“These migrants have left everything, often following a dream.
“They then send their hard-earned money back home to support those they left behind, only to find they are charged extortionate fees for the service.”
The Association of UK Payment Institutions said prices would be lower if regulators allowed more competition in the market.
Migrant workers worldwide sent home more than £500billion a year, according to the Pew Research Center.
Money is sent by migrants in low-paid jobs as well as highly-qualified workers.
The funds are often used to pay for an education for family members.
The UK’s government spends more than £13 billion a year in foreign aid.
In 2016, the UK sent £13.4 billion of aid abroad, with Pakistan, Syria, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Afghanistan the biggest recipients.