Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos (OFs) reached $3.18 billion in July 2025, up three percent from the $3.08 billion recorded the same month last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported.

Sea-based workers posted a slightly faster growth of 3.1 percent, sending home $585 million, while land-based workers accounted for the bulk at $2.59 billion, also higher by three percent year-on-year.

For the first seven months of 2025, cumulative cash remittances climbed to $19.93 billion, a 3.1 percent increase from $19.33 billion in the comparable period of 2024.

Critical to Phl’s growth trajectory

Economists noted that the sustained inflows remain critical to the country’s growth trajectory.

“This three percent remittance growth to $22.21 billion is economically vital for the Philippines, where overseas worker funds comprise roughly 8–10 percent of GDP,” SM Investment Corporation economist Robert Dan Roces told DAILY TRIBUNE, noting that cumulative personal remittances for January to July likewise rose 3.1 percent to US$22.21 billion.

U.S. top source

The United States remained the top source of remittances, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

The steady rise in cash remittances also lifted personal remittances — which include money sent through banks, informal channels, and in-kind transfers — by 3.1 percent to $3.53 billion in July.

“The steady dollar inflow directly bolsters household spending power for millions of families while helping stabilize the peso against external shocks from oil price volatility and trade deficits,” Roces added.

“Though the growth rate is modest compared to pre-pandemic levels, these remittances remain a crucial economic lifeline, as they support both consumer-driven GDP growth and foreign exchange reserves — even as they highlight the country’s persistent reliance on exported labor rather than robust domestic job creation.”

Highest in seven months

For his part, Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, pointed out that July’s figure represented the highest monthly remittance inflow in seven months, or since December 2024, when a record $3.379 billion was logged.