Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs), which help drive consumption activities across the country, posted a new record high of USD3.6 billion in December 2023, up by 3.9 percent from the USD3.5 billion reported in December 2022.
The growth, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said, was driven by increased remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.
The personal remittances also reached an all-time high of USD37.2 billion, a 3 percent increase from USD36.1 billion in 2022. Robust inward remittances during the period reflected the rise in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers due to the continuous increase in demand for foreign workers in host countries. The full-year remittance haul represented 8.5 percent and 7.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI), respectively.
Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances coursed through banks reached USD3.3 billion in December 2023, higher by 3.8 percent than the USD3.2 billion in the same month the year before. The growth in cash remittances in December last year was primarily due to increased receipts from both land- and sea-based workers.
On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances reached USD33.5 billion in 2023, a 2.9 percent growth from USD32.5 billion in 2022.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States (U.S.), Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in 2023.
In terms of the countries where these remittances originate, the U.S. had the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States (U.S.), Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in 2023. In terms of the countries where these remittances originate, the U.S. had the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.
