The personal remittances by OFWs have gone up by 5.1 per cent to a record high of $34.88 billion in 2021 from $33.19 billion in 2020.
According to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno dollars sent home by expatriate Filipinos hit an all-time high last year with the redeployment of Filipino contract workers who were earlier displaced by the impact of the pandemic.
However, the recent growth rate was slightly lower than the six per cent growth target of the BSP.
Diokno said the sustained growth in personal remittances was driven by the remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more.
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They went up by 5.6 per cent to $27 billion last year from $25.56 billion a year ago.
The remittances from sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year also grew by 2.9 per cent to $7.14 billion in 2021 from $6.93 billion in 2020.
The BSP chief said the strong inward remittances contributed to the increase in domestic demand, with the 2021 level accounting for 8.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and gross national income (GNI), respectively.
