Overseas Filipinos’ cash remittances continued to grow at a steady pace of $22.217 billion as of end-August, up by 2.9 percent year-on-year from $21.581 billion, based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.
The BSP said Tuesday, Oct. 15 that cash remittances which are fund transfers sent via the banking channels for the month of August increased by 3.2 percent to $2.885 billion versus $2.796 billion same time in 2023.
Meanwhile, for the first eight months, cash remittances by land-based workers totaled $17.74 billion, up 3.3 percent from $17.17 billion in 2023. Sea-based workers also transferred $4.48 billion, up 1.5 percent from $4.41 billion last year.
As for personal remittances, this went up by three percent year-on-year to $24.736 billion as of end-August from $24.013 billion last year.
Personal remittances are computed as the sum of an overseas Filipino’s net compensation and includes personal transfers and capital transfers between households.
BSP data showed that for the month of August, personal remittances rose 3.3 percent to $3.204 billion from $3.102 billion.
Personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more reached $19.21 billion as of end-August, up 3.1 percent from $18.63 billion same time in 2023. Sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year also increased by 2.2 percent to $4.94 billion from $4.83 billion.
The central bank noted that the growth in cash remittances from the US, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Singapore boosted the January to August fund transfers. The US, Singapore and Saudi Arabia continue to register the highest share of overall remittances.
Based on BSP data, for the first eight months of 2024, the US accounted for 41.3 percent of the overall remittances, followed by Singapore with seven percent; Saudi Arabia with 6.1 percent; United Kingdom with 4.9 percent; Japan with 4.8 percent; and UAE with 4.2 percent.
The US normally appears as the top country source of remittances because of a common practice of remittance centers to course remittances through correspondent banks based in the US.
For 2024 and 2025, the BSP expects cash remittances to grow by three percent year-on-year. In US dollar terms, cash remittances will likely hit $34.5 billion in 2024 and $35.5 billion in 2025.
The BSP makes projections for annual remittances in terms of cash remittances which are the total value of private income transfers sent back by Filipino overseas workers. It is a subset of personal remittances. Both are sent through formal channels such as banks and money transfer operators and informal networks including relatives, friends and co-workers.
Last year, cash remittances amounted to $33.491 billion, up 2.9 percent from 2022’s $32.539 billion.