MANILA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos reached a new high of 34.884 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, equivalent to 8.9 percent of the gross domestic product of the Southeast Asian country, the Philippine central bank said on Tuesday.
For December last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said personal remittances grew 2.9 percent year-on-year to 3.298 billion dollars, the highest monthly level since the tracking of personal remittances data in 2005.
"Notwithstanding the global pandemic, cash remittances sent by overseas Filipinos across various regions remained robust," the BSP said, noting cash remittances from the United States accounted for the largest share of overall remittances at 40.5 percent, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Britain.
"The growth in personal remittances reflected a pickup in overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployment, strong demand for OFWs amid the reopening of host economies to foreign workers, and the continued shift to digital support that facilitated inward transfer of remittances," the BSP added.
Filipinos have worked and settled across international borders over the last decades. Personal remittances remain a major source of the country's foreign exchange inflows, with the 2020 level representing 9.2 percent of the GDP, according to the BSP. ■