Remittances from overseas Filipinos up 2.9% in May

Personal remittances which include cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind, rose by 3 percent to USD2.97 billion from USD2.88 billion in May last year. (Pexels Photo)

By Anna Leah Gonzales, Philippine News Agency

MANILA – Money sent home by overseas Filipinos (OFs) continued to increase in May this year, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Data released Tuesday showed that cash remittances went up by 2.9 percent to USD2.66 billion in May from USD2.58 billion in May 2024.

Of the total amount, remittances from land-based overseas Filipinos accounted for about USD2.12 billion while remittances from sea-based OFs amounted to USD536 million.

“The increase in cash remittances drove an increase in personal remittances as well,” said the BSP.

Personal remittances which include cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind, rose by 3 percent to USD2.97 billion from USD2.88 billion in May last year.

For the first five months of the year, cash remittances increased by 3 percent to USD13.77 billion from USD13.37 billion in January to May 2024.

Top sources of remittances were the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Cumulative personal remittances meanwhile also went up by 3 percent to USD15.34 billion from last year’s USD14.89 billion.