Remittances rose 2.3 percent in July to $2.92 billion from $2.85 billion a year ago on sustained demand for Filipino workers abroad as global economies recover from the pandemic, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.
The latest figure brought cash remittances in the first seven months to $18.26 billion, up 2.8 percent from $17.77 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“The expansion in cash remittances in July 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land-based and sea-based workers,” the BSP said in a statement.
It said in terms of country source, the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Qatar contributed largely to the increase in remittances in the seven-month period.
Personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also went up by 2.3 percent in July to $3.24 billion from $3.17 billion a year earlier. This resulted in the cumulative personal remittances rising by 2.7 percent in the first seven months to $20.33 billion from $19.78 billion registered in the same period in 2021.
“The increase in personal remittances in July 2022 was due to 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.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said remittances to the Philippines were consistently the fourth largest in the world, after those sent to India, China and Mexico.
Remittances were equivalent to roughly 8 to 9 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product. They were also about 32 percent to 37 percent of income from exports of goods and services and 26 percent to 37 percent of gross international reserves.
Ricafort said the Philippines was among the biggest suppliers of nurses around the world, accounting for at least 20 percent of the total globally. The Philippines was also the biggest supplier of seafarers, accounting for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the global tally.
Cash remittances hit a record $31.418 billion in 2021, up 5.1 percent from $29.903 billion in 2020.