BSP: OFW remittances up by 3.3% in August

MANILA, Philippines — Remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) rose by 3.3% to $3.20 billion (P184,883,200,000) in August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

Latest data released by the central bank showed personal remittances in August were up from the $3.1 billion recorded in August 2023. The current remittance print, however, is lower than July’s $3.43 billion

The central bank attributed the increase of personal remittances to 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.

Personal remittances increased by 3% from January to August, rising to $24.74 billion compared to $24.01 billion during the same period last year.

Meanwhile, cash remittances from OFWs, sent through banks, amounted to $2.89 billion in August 2024, a 3.2% increase from the $2.80 billion recorded in August 2023. 

This rise in cash remittances was driven by higher inflows from both land-based and sea-based workers.

For the year-to-date period, cash remittances increased by 2.9%, reaching $22.22 billion from January to August 2024, compared to $21.58 billion during the same period in 2023.

According to the BSP, the rise in cash remittances was largely driven by inflows from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. The United States continued to be the largest source of remittances, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.