Personal Remittances Up by 3.3 Percent YoY in August 2024

Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) grew by 3.3 percent to US$3.20 billion in August 2024 from US$3.10 billion registered in August 2023.

The expansion in personal remittances in August 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-August 2024 increased by 3.0 percent to US$24.74 billion from US$24.01 billion recorded in January-August 2023.

Of the personal remittances from OFs, cash remittances, which were coursed through banks, reached US$2.89 billion in August 2024, higher by 3.2 percent than the US$2.80 billion posted in August 2023.

The growth in cash remittances in August 2024 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.

On a year-to-date basis, cash remittances rose by 2.9 percent to US$22.22 billion in January-August 2024 from US$21.58 billion registered in January-August 2023.

The growth in cash remittances from the United States (U.S.), Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in January-August 2024.

Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the U.S. also posted the largest share of overall cash remittances in January-August 2024, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.^[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.