Remittances rise 4% to $3 billion in April

MANILA, Philippines —   Money sent home by overseas Filipino workers rose to nearly $3 billion in April, boosted by steady inflows from both land- and sea-based OFWs, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday.

Data showed that personal remittances reached $2.98 billion in April, 4.1 percent higher than the $2.86 billion in the same month last year. It marked the fastest growth in over two years or since the 4.4-percent rise in August 2022.

This brought the cumulative total for the first four months to $12.37 billion, reflecting a three-percent growth from $12.01 billion in the same period last year.

Personal remittances include cash transfers via banks and informal channels, as well as in-kind remittances. This is the sum of net compensation of employees, personal transfers and capital transfers between households.

Reinielle Matt Erece, an economist from Oikonomia Advisory & Research Inc., said April usually posts one of the fastest remittance growth during the summer months.

“However, we may continue to see stronger remittance inflows from OFWs due to the relative strength of the peso. They may be prompted to send more to maintain the same peso value they used to send,” Erece said.

Cash remittances coursed through banks, likewise, increased by four percent to $2.66 billion in April from $2.56 billion in the same month last year. This was also the fastest growth pace recorded since August 2022.

From January to April, bank-transferred remittances amounted to $11.11 billion, also up by three percent from $10.78 billion a year ago.

“The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in January to April 2025,” the BSP said.

In terms of the country sources, the US posted the biggest share of overall remittances with 40.4 percent, followed by Singapore with 7.3 percent and Saudi Arabia with 6.3 percent.

Remittances from millions of overseas Filipinos remain a major pillar of the Philippine economy, helping fuel domestic consumption and supporting the peso.

The BSP sees both personal and cash remittances increasing by 2.8 percent this year and three percent next year.