MANILA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached 3.20 billion U.S. dollars in August 2024, 3.3 percent higher than the 3.10 billion dollars recorded a year earlier, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the cumulative personal remittances rose by 3 percent to 24.74 billion dollars from January to August 2024, from 24.01 billion dollars recorded in the same period of 2023.
The BSP said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore contributed mainly to the increase.
Personal remittances remain a vital source of foreign exchange inflows to the archipelago. According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippines is among the top 10 global recipients of remittances. There are an estimated 10 million Filipinos living overseas.
The BSP data showed that personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached an all-time high of 37.2 billion dollars in 2023, 3 percent higher than in 2022. The full-year 2023 remittances represented 8.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). ■
