Philippine cash remittances rise to USD 2.71 billion

Cash remittances sent through the Philippine banking system rose 2 percent year over year to USD 2.71 billion in May 2026 from USD 2.66 billion a year earlier, reflecting sustained inflows from overseas Filipinos, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said July 15.

Personal remittances, a broader measure that includes cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind, increased 2.1 percent to USD 3.03 billion from USD 2.97 billion in May 2025.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, personal remittances reached USD 3.34 billion in May, edging up 0.1 percent from the previous month.

Cash remittances from land-based overseas Filipinos increased 2.1 percent to USD 2.17 billion in May from USD 2.12 billion a year earlier.

Remittances from sea-based workers grew 1.7 percent to USD 0.54 billion from USD 0.54 billion, with the rounded figures masking the increase in the underlying data.

For the first five months of 2026, personal remittances climbed 2.6 percent to USD 15.73 billion from USD 15.34 billion in the same period of 2025.

Cash remittances through banks increased 2.5 percent to USD 14.10 billion in January-May from USD 13.77 billion a year earlier.

Land-based workers accounted for USD 11.22 billion of cash remittances during the five-month period, up 2.5 percent from USD 10.94 billion.

Sea-based workers sent USD 2.89 billion through the banking system, also 2.5 percent higher than the USD 2.82 billion recorded in the comparable period.

The continued increase underscores the role of overseas Filipino remittances in supporting household income, consumer spending, and broader domestic demand.

The United States remained the largest reported source of cash remittances in January-May 2026, accounting for 39.4 percent of the total, followed by Singapore at 7.4 percent, Saudi Arabia at 6.4 percent, Japan at 5.1 percent, the United Kingdom at 4.5 percent, the United Arab Emirates at 4.3 percent, Canada at 3.3 percent, Qatar at 2.9 percent, Taiwan at 2.8 percent, and the Republic of Korea at 2.7 percent. Other sources accounted for 21 percent.

Among land-based workers, the United States accounted for 41.9 percent of cash remittances, followed by Saudi Arabia at 8.1 percent, Singapore at 6.4 percent, the United Arab Emirates at 5.4 percent, and Japan at 4.4 percent. Other sources made up 33.9 percent.

Among sea-based workers, the United States accounted for 30 percent of cash remittances, followed by Singapore at 11.2 percent, Japan at 7.8 percent, Germany at 5.6 percent, and Panama at 5.2 percent. Other sources represented 40.2 percent.

The BSP cautioned that remittance data by origin have limitations because remitting or correspondent banks are often located in the United States. The country attribution therefore does not necessarily mean that the funds were generated in the United States.

Cash remittances are defined as money sent by land-based and sea-based workers through the banking system.

Personal remittances are broader and include net compensation of overseas Filipino employees with work contracts of less than one year, including all sea-based workers, after taxes, social contributions, transportation costs, and travel expenses in host countries.

The personal remittance measure also covers personal transfers in cash or in kind by overseas Filipinos with contracts of one year or more, other household-to-household transfers between Filipinos abroad and their dependents in the Philippines, and capital transfers between resident and nonresident households for purposes such as residential construction.

The BSP seasonally adjusts personal remittance data using X-13ARIMA-SEATS, the X-13 AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average Signal Extraction in ARIMA Time Series method developed by the U.S. Census Bureau.