Cash remittances from Filipinos working overseas rose 4.0 percent year-on-year in April 2025, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Monday.
Data from the central bank showed cash remittances sent through banks reached $2.66 billion in April 2025, up from $2.56 billion in April 2024.
Cumulative cash remittances in the first four months of 2025 hit $11.11 billion, a 3-percent increase from $10.78 billion recorded a year earlier.
The BSP attributed the overall rise in remittances during the four-month period to higher growth from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
By country, the US accounted for the largest share of total cash remittances, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
The BSP noted limitations in disaggregating remittance data by source country. Remittance centers abroad often route funds through correspondent banks, mostly located in the US.
“Therefore, the US would appear to be the main source of OF (overseas Filipino) remittances because banks attribute the origin of funds to the most immediate source,” the BSP said, explaining that remittances sent via money couriers cannot always be broken down by actual source and are listed under the country where the main office is located, often the US.
Personal remittances, which include cash remittances and non-cash items sent outside banking channels, climbed 4.1 percent in April, driven by remittances from both land-based and sea-based Filipinos working overseas.
Filipinos abroad sent $2.97 billion in personal remittances in April 2025, up from $2.86 billion in April 2024, the BSP said.
“On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, personal remittances rose by 1.6 percent,” the BSP said.
Cumulative personal remittances from January to April also increased 3.0 percent to $12.37 billion from $12.01 billion a year earlier.