By Romeo Braceros Jr.

Money returned home by overseas Filipinos (OFs) increased by 5.8% from the $2.77 billion reported in November 2021 to $2.93 billion in November 2022.

The higher remittances sent by land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and by the sea- and land-based workers with employment contracts of less than one year were the cause of the increase in personal remittances in November 2022.

As a result, total personal remittances rose to $32.65 billion in the first 11 months of 2022 from $31.59 billion in 2021, or 3.4 percent.

The number of cash remittances from OFs routed through banks in November 2022 totaled $2.64 billion, up 5.7 percent from the $2.50 billion recorded in the same month in 2021. 

The increase in receipts from land- and sea-based workers was the primary cause of the spike in cash remittances in November 2022.

Cash remittances through banks from January through November 2022 totaled $29.38 billion, which is 3.3 percent more than the $28.43 billion sum from last year.

The increase in remittances between January and November 2022 was mainly attributed to increases in cash transfers from the US, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Qatar.

The US recorded the most significant overall remittance share in the first 11 months of 2022, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia in terms of national sources.