Philippine remittances rise in October, growth slows

Remittances sent in by overseas Filipinos continued to climb in October, albeit at a slower pace after the five-month high seen in September, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.

Cash remittances or money transfers coursed through banks or formal channels for the month stood at $3.171 billion, up 3.0% from the $3.079 billion the same month last year, and slightly higher than the $3.121 billion in September.

Growth slowed, however, from the 3.7% recorded in September, which was the highest in five months since April 2025 when inflows grew by 4.0%.

This brought the year-to-date cash remittances to $29.202 billion, reflecting a 3.2% increase from the $28.304 billion in the comparable period of 2024.

The United States remained the biggest source of inflows with 40.3%, followed by Singapore with 7.2%, Saudi Arabia with 6.4%, Japan with 4.9%, and the United Kingdom with 4.7%.

They were backed by the United Arab Emirates with 4.5%, Canada with 3.5%, Qatar with 2.9%, Taiwan with 2.8%, and South Korea with 2.5%. The remaining 20.4% was shared by other countries.

The BSP noted, however, that remittances coursed through money couriers cannot be disaggregated by actual country source and these are lodged under the country where the main offices are located, which is in the United States in many cases.

Personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in-kind via informal channels — came in at $3.519 billion or 3.0% higher than the $3.415 billion in October last year, bringing the year-to-date level up 3.2% to $32.493 billion from $31.487 billion. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News