Personal Remittances Increase to $21.2B in First Eight Months of 2018

Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year to reach $21.2 billion in the first eight months of 2018, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Officer-in-Charge Maria Almasara Cyd N. Tuaño-Amador.

Personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 2.1 percent to $16.3 billion, while transfers from sea-based workers and land-based workers with short-term contracts expanded by 3.8 percent to $4.4 billion. However, personal remittances for August 2018 were 1.4 percent lower than the level posted in August 2017.

Meanwhile, for January to August 2018, cash remittances from OFs coursed through banks recorded a 2.5 percent growth from the same period a year ago to reach $19.1 billion. Cash remittances sent by land-based workers rose by 2.1 percent to $15.1 billion, and transfers from sea-based workers grew by 3.8 percent to $4 billion. For August 2018, however, cash remittances posted a 0.9 percent decrease year-on-year to $2.5 billion. The countries that contributed to the decline in August 2018 are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

By country source, more than 79 percent of the total cash remittances for the first eight months of 2018 came from the United States, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Qatar, Canada, Germany, and Hong Kong.