Remittances hit 11-month low in April 2026

Remittances from overseas Filipinos slipped to an 11-month low in April, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.

Cash remittances or money transfers coursed through banks and other formal channels stood at $2.718 billion for the month. This is lower than the $2.874 billion in March and the lowest since the $2.658-billion inflows in May 2025, but higher than the $2.664 billion recorded in the same month last year.

Land-based workers accounted for $2.12 billion, while sea-based workers sent in $0.59 billion.

This brought year-to-date cash remittances to $11.396 billion, higher than the $11.107 billion in the comparable period of 2025.

The United States continued to be the top source of inflows for the month with 39.7%, followed by Singapore with 7.3%, Saudi Arabia with 6.4%, Japan with 5.1%, and the United Arab Emirates with 4.6%.

“The United States remained the dominant source of inflows, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia, indicating stable geographic concentration,” the BSP said in a statement.

Remittances from the United Kingdom were recorded at 4.4%, Canada at 3.1%, Qatar at 2.9%, Taiwan at 2.8%, and Hong Kong at 2.7%, while other countries accounted for the remaining 21.0%.

The BSP noted, however, that remittances coursed through money couriers cannot be disaggregated by actual country source. These are instead recorded under the country where the courier’s main office is located—often the United States.

Personal remittances — the sum of transfers sent in cash or in kind, including those coursed through informal channels — were recorded at $3.037 billion, lower than the $3.203 billion in March, but higher than the $2.975 billion in April 2025.

Year-to-date personal remittances were recorded at $12.701 billion, higher than the $12.372 billion last year. —AOL, GMA News