REMITTANCES from Filipinos abroad grew to a record-high in December last year, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) yesterday showed.
The BSP said this was due to an increase in demand for foreign workers overseas, as economies began to reopen.
Overseas Filipinos’ personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — in the last month of 2022 stood at $3.49 billion, up 5.7 percent from $3.30 billion recorded in December 2021.
“The increase in personal remittances in December 2022 was due to higher remittances sent by 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,” the BSP said.
The full-year 2022 personal remittances also reached an all-time high of $36.14 billion, according to the central bank.
Last year’s personal remittances level was also 3.6 percent higher than the $34.88 billion flows in 2021.
“The robust inward remittances reflected the increasing demand for foreign workers amid the reopening of economies,” the BSP said.
Consequently, the full-year 2022 level accounted for 8.9 percent and 8.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI), respectively.
Meanwhile, cash remittances – money transfers coursed through banks – totaled $3.16 billion in December, up 5.8 percent from $2.99 billion recorded in the same period in 2021.
The full-year 2022 cash remittances amounted to $32.54 billion, up 3.6 percent from $31.42 billion in 2021. (GMA Integrated News)
