Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos (OF) rose 3.2 percent to $2.98 billion in August 2025 from $2.89 billion in August 2024, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.
The increase was fueled by higher inflows from both land-based and sea-based workers, the BSP said in a statement.
Data showed that land-based OFs accounted for $2.35 billion, up 3.0 percent year-on-year, while sea-based OFs contributed $626 million, representing a 3.8-percent increase.
Eight-month cash remittances also grew by 3.1 percent to $22.91 billion in 2025 period from $22.22 in the same period of 2024.
The United States remained the top source of remittances to the Philippines from January to August, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
The increase in cash remittances also boosted personal remittances, which include cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind, by 3.2 percent to $3.31 billion in August 2025 from $3.20 billion in August 2024.
Eight-month personal remittances increased 3.1 percent to $25.51 billion this year from $24.74 billion last year.
Robert Dan Roces, chief economist at SM Investments Corp., said the 3.2-percent annual increase in cash remittances in August indicates a modest pick-up relative to the recorded 3.0-percent growth in July.
“This suggests that remittance flows have some resilience despite global headwinds, and reflects, in part, a lower comparative base or mild fluctuations in monthly flows,” said Roces.
Union Bank of the Philippines chief economist Carlo Asuncion said the growth was supported by steady overseas employment and resilient inflows from key markets like the United States, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
Asuncion, however, pointed out that “the month-on-month dip from July reflects seasonal normalization after back-to-school spending and a less volatile peso.”
Meanwhile, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said this could also partly be due to weather-related disruptions brought about by the onslaught of typhoons that reduced the number of working days.
“Nevertheless, the continued single-digit growth is still a good signal for the overall economy as an important growth driver, especially in terms of consumer spending, which accounts for about 68% of the Philippine economy,” Ricafort said.
