MANILA - Cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers rose to $3.24 billion in July, the highest monthly total since December 2025.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas released the figures on Sept. 15. Preliminary data in the BSP’s remittance series show cash sent by land- and sea-based workers through the banking system reached $3.240 billion, up 1.9% from $3.179 billion in July 2025.
On an unadjusted basis, July cash remittances were about 6.6% higher than the $3.039 billion recorded in June.
Cash remittances totaled $20.389 billion in the first seven months of 2026, 2.3% above the $19.932 billion recorded in the same period last year. Land-based workers accounted for 80.2% of the January-July total and sea-based workers for 19.8%.
The July inflow was the strongest since December 2025, when cash remittances reached $3.522 billion. Preliminary BSP data put full-year 2025 cash remittances at a record $35.634 billion.
In the BSP’s country-source breakdown, the United States accounted for 39.7% of reported cash remittances from January through July, followed by Singapore at 7.1% and Saudi Arabia at 6.3%.
The central bank cautions that those figures do not necessarily identify where the money was earned. Remittance centers can route transfers through correspondent banks, mostly in the United States, while money sent through couriers may be recorded according to the location of the courier’s main office.
The BSP’s broader measure of personal remittances reached $3.603 billion in July, up 2.0% from a year earlier. January-July personal remittances rose 2.3% to $22.726 billion. Seasonally adjusted personal remittances increased 0.6% from June to $3.377 billion.
“These inflows provided continued support to household consumption and domestic economic activity,” the BSP said, describing remittances as an important source of external financing and household income.
The central bank’s advance release calendar schedules the August 2026 remittance figures for Oct. 15.
