MANILA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached an "all-time high" of 36.14 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, compared to 34.88 billion dollars in 2021, the Philippine central bank said on Wednesday.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Qatar, and Britain contributed mainly to the increase in remittances from January to December 2022.
"The robust inward remittances reflected the increasing demand for foreign workers amid the reopening of economies," the BSP said, noting that the United States posted the highest share of overall remittances at 41.2 percent, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
It added that the full-year 2022 level accounted for 8.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Filipinos have worked and settled across international borders over the past decades and personal remittances remain a major source of the Southeast Asian country's foreign exchange inflows.
In 2021, remittances from overseas Filipino workers represent 8.9 percent of the country's gross domestic product. ■
