OFW remittances at record high in 2019

Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached over $30 billion last year, an all-time high, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In December alone, personal remittances — whether in cash or kind and capital transfers between households — reached $3.21 billion, up from $3.15 billion a year earlier and 21.86 percent higher than the $2.63 billion in November.

The full-year 2019 personal remittance was $33.46 billion, a 3.9-percent increase from $32.21 billion in 2018.

“The sustained growth in personal remittances during the year was primarily driven by the 3.5-percent increase in remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more that amounted to $25.6 billion from $24.8 billion,” the Bangko Sentral said in a statement.

The 6.5-percent rise in personal remittances from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year amounted to $7.1 billion, up from $6.7 billion the year earlier.

The BSP said OFW remittances accounted for 9.3 percent and 7.8 percent of the gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively, last year.

“Much of the remittances from OFWs were in the form of cash that were coursed through the banks,” it added.

Cash remittances rose by 1.9 percent to $2.90 billion in December from $2.84 billion a year earlier. It also surged by 22.34 percent from $2.37 billion in November.

In 2019, cash remittances jumped by 4.1 percent to $30.13 billion from $28.94 billion in 2018.

“Notwithstanding pockets of political uncertainties across the globe, cash remittances in 2019 remained strong,” the central bank noted.

This was evident in remittances from Asia, the Americas and Africa, where inflows grew annually by 12.3 percent, 10.6 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, it added.

“The growth of inflows in these regions more than made up for the 9.8-percent decline in remittances from the Middle East,” it said.

Remittances from the United States were highest at 37.6 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Germany and Kuwait.

“Remittances from these countries accounted for 78.4 percent of total cash remittances during the period,” the Bangko Sentral said.