MONEY sent home by overseas Filipinos has reached a new high of US$34.884 billion in 2021, surpassing the $33.194 billion recorded a year ago by 5.1 percent.
For the month of December, personal remittances grew year-on-year by 2.9 percent to $3.298 billion, the highest monthly level since the tracking of personal remittances data series began in 2005, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.
The sustained growth in personal remittances during the year was driven by remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more, which increased annually by 5.6 percent to $27.005 billion from $25.564 billion, and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year, which grew by 2.9 percent to $7.138 billion from $6.934 billion in 2020.
“The growth in personal remittances reflected a pickup in overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployment, strong demand for OFWs amid the reopening of host economies to foreign workers, and the continued shift to digital support that facilitated inward transfer of remittances,” the BSP said.
The central bank added that the strong inward remittances, in turn, contributed to the increase in domestic demand, with the 2021 level accounting for 8.9 percent and 8.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively.
Cash remittances coursed through banks last year totaled $31.418 billion, up 5.1 percent from the $29.903 billion recorded in 2020.
The BSP said amid the global pandemic, cash remittances sent by overseas Filipinos across various regions remained robust.
By country source, cash remittances from the United States accounted for the largest share of overall remittances at 40.5 percent followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar, and South Korea. (KOC WITH PR)