Filipinos living and working overseas, including those working on passenger and cargo ships, sent home $3.32 billion in July, up 2.5 percent from the $3.24 billion they remitted in the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.
For the first seven months of 2023, personal remittance increased 2.9 percent to $20.91 billion from $20.33 billion in the comparable period in 2022. Personal remittances cover cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind.
Cash remittances, or funds sent by overseas Filipinos through banks, increased 2.6 percent year-on-year to $2.99 billion in July. This pushed cash remittance total 2.9 percent higher in the first seven months of 2023 to $18.79 billion.
The BSP has projected a 3 percent growth in cash remittances for this year and in 2024, driven by the steady deployment of Filipinos overseas.
The Department of Migrant Workers noted that in the first half of this year, deployment more than doubled to a total 1.2 million, a pace that could see the total reaching as much as 2.5 million by the end of 2023.
The growth in cash remittances from the US, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in the first seven months of 2023. Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the U.S. posted the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and Japan.
The BSP noted the limitations on the remittance data by country source since it is common practice of remittance centers in various cities abroad to course fund transfers through correspondent banks, most of which are located in the U.S. The central bank added that remittances coursed through money couriers cannot be disaggregated by actual country source and are lodged under the country where the main offices are located, which, in many cases, in the U.S.
Except for a slight dip at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Filipinos living and working overseas have steadily increased the amount of funds they send back to their families in the Philippines.
Last year, personal remittance rose 3.6 percent year-on-year to $36.14 billion on account for a similar annual growth rate in cash remittance to $32.54 billion.
