Personal remittances up by 3.2 percent YoY in July 2024

Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) rose by 3.2 percent to US$3.43 billion in July 2024 from US$3.32 billion registered in July 2023. The increase in personal remittances in July 2024 was due to higher remittances from 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.

Correspondingly, cumulative remittances in January-July 2024 expanded by 3.0 percent to US$21.53 billion  from US$20.91 billion recorded in January-July 2023.

Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances, which were coursed through banks, reached US$3.08 billion in July 2024, higher by 3.1 percent than the US$2.99 billion posted in July 2023. The expansion in cash remittances in July 2024 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.

On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances grew by 2.9 percent to US$19.33 billion from US$18.79 billion registered in January-July 2023.

The growth in cash remittances from the United States (U.S.), Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in January-July 2024. Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the U.S. also posted the highest share of overall remittances in January-July 2024, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.^[1]

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^[1] There are some limitations on the remittance data by source. A common practice of remittance centers in various cities abroad is to course remittances through correspondent banks, most of which are located in the U.S. Also, 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, is in the U.S. Therefore, the U.S. would appear to be the main source of OF remittances because banks attribute the origin of funds to the most immediate source. The countries are listed in order of their share of cash remittances, i.e., from highest to lowest.