Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas grew 3 percent in October to $3 billion from $2.91 billion in the same month last year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed Friday.
Cash remittances also increased 2.8 percent in the first ten months of 2023 to $27.49 billion from $26.74 billion a year ago, fueling household spending in the country.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in total remittances in the 10-month period.
The BSP said that in terms of the countries where these remittances originate, the US had the highest share of 41.5 percent, followed by Singapore with 7 percent and Saudi Arabia with 6 percent.
The share of remittances from Japan reached 5 percent, followed by the United Kingdom, 4.8 percent; United Arab Emirates, 4.1 percent, Canada, 3.6 precent, Qatar 2.8 percent, Taiwan, 2.7 percent and South Korea, 2.5 percent.
Personal remittances, which also include non-cash items, went up 3.2 percent in October to $3.33 billion from $3.23 billion a year earlier.
“The growth in personal remittances during the month 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 BSP said.
The October figure brought the total personal remittances to $30.57 billion in the first 10 months, up 2.9 percent from $29.72 billion in the same period last year.
The Bangko Sentral expects remittances to grow 3 percent in 2023.
Remittances account for about a tenth of the gross national income and support various sectors such as banking, transportation, retail, education and healthcare.
The Philippines is the fourth largest recipient country of remittances in the world, next to India, Mexico and China.