Personal remittances from Overseas Filipinos (OFs) posted a new record high of $3.49 billion in December 2022, up by 5.7 percent from the $3.30 billion recorded in December 2021, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday.

The increase in personal remittances 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.

Consequently, the full-year 2022 personal remittances also reached an all-time high of $36.14 billion.

This level was 3.6 percent higher than the $34.88 billion remittance flows in 2021. The robust inward remittances reflected the increasing demand for foreign workers amid the reopening of economies.

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.

Of the personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, cash remittances coursed through banks grew by 5.8 percent to $3.16 billion in December 2022, from US$2.99 billion registered in the same month in 2021.

The expansion in cash remittances in December 2022 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.

On a year-to-date basis, full-year 2022 cash remittances coursed through banks amounted to $32.54 billion, up by 3.6 percent from the $31.42 billion recorded in 2021.

The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Qatar, and United Kingdom contributed largely to the increase in remittances in January-December 2022.

Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances in 2022, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia. BSP