OFW hailed as ‘heroes who brought peace and prosperity to the country’ in a street mural in Manila Despite the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent a record $31.4 billion in remittances through banking channels last year, the country’s central bank said in a statement on Feb. 15. . Cash remittances rose 5.1 percent from $29.9 to $1 billion in 2020, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said. Adding in the value of personal cash transfers and non-cash items brought abroad from Filipinos, personal remittances even total $34.9 billion,…
In a statement on Feb. 15, the country’s central bank said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent a record $31.4 billion in remittances through banking channels last year despite the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic.
Cash remittances rose 5.1 percent from $29.9 billion in 2020, the Central Bank of the Philippines said.
It noted that adding in the value of personal cash transfers and non-cash items brought abroad from Filipinos, total personal remittances even hit an all-time high of $34.9 billion, up 5.1 percent from $33.2 billion in 2020.
However, the central bank does not include potential transfers (if any) via cryptocurrencies.
Support for families in financial hardship caused by the pandemic
This is a healthy recovery since 2020, when OFW cash remittances fell 0.8% from the pre-pandemic level of $30.1 billion in 2019. However, the decline was smaller than expected as Covid-19 forced many overseas Filipinos to return home to support their families despite thousands of migrant workers being repatriated at the height of the pandemic-induced global recession two years ago.
Compared to 2020, last year remittances from the Americas increased by 7.1%, Europe by 5.5%, Asia by 4.5% and the Middle East by 0.7%. Cash remittances from the US were the largest source, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, UK, UAE, Canada, Taiwan, Qatar and South Korea. These ten countries accounted for 78.9% of OFW’s total cash transfers.
Remittances account for nearly 9% of Philippine GDP
“The growth of cash remittances in 2021 was supported by rising incomes of land and sea workers, which rose 5.6 percent to $24.9 billion and 3 percent to $6.5 billion, respectively,” the central bank said, adding that OFW’s personal remittances accounted for the Philippine domestic 2021 share of remittances 8.9% of GDP.
“The growth in personal remittances reflects increased deployment of overseas Filipino workers, strong demand for OFWs during the reopening of host economies to foreign workers, and a continued shift towards digital support to facilitate inward transfers of remittances,” the central bank noted.
