Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) reached US$3.23 billion in October 2022, higher by 3.5 percent than the US$3.12 billion registered in the same month last year. The increase in personal remittances in October 2022 was due to higher remittances sent by 1) land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, and 2) sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.
Consequently, cumulative personal remittances grew by 3.1 percent to US$29.72 billion in the first ten months of 2022 from US$28.82 billion recorded in the comparable period in 2021.
Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances coursed through banks increased by 3.5 percent to US$2.91 billion in October 2022 from US$2.81 billion registered in the same month in 2021. The expansion in cash remittances in October 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers.
On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances in January-October 2022 amounted to US$26.74 billion, 3.1 percent higher than the year-ago level of US$25.93 billion.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January-October 2022. Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances in the first ten months of 2022, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
