OFW remittances rise to $3.17 billion in October 2025

Cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $3.17 billion in October 2025, slightly up from September’s $3.12 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on 15 December.

RCBC Chief Economist Michael Ricafort noted that the October figure represents a 2.7 percent increase from the same month last year. He said the sustained rise signals positive momentum for the economy.

“The faster and continued single-digit year-on-year growth in OFW remittances nevertheless is still a good signal, a bright spot for the overall economy as an important growth driver, especially in terms of consumer spending, which accounts for about 73 percent of the Philippine economy, thereby supporting faster GDP growth in the fourth quarter,” Ricafort said.

He added that a strengthening US dollar, combined with political events such as the Trillion Peso March and the Baha sa Luneta anti-corruption rallies in September, “made it more attractive” for OFWs to convert their earnings into pesos for household spending in the Philippines.

For the first ten months of 2025, remittances totaled $29.20 billion. The United States remained the top reported source, accounting for 42.3 percent, or roughly $12.35 billion.

The BSP noted, however, that structural factors may distort the apparent dominance of US-sourced remittances. Many foreign remittance centers route funds through correspondent banks headquartered in the US, and transfers are often recorded based on the location of these head offices, rather than where the money actually originated. As a result, remittances may appear disproportionately attributed to the US.

Ricafort also said that a slowing US and global economy amid President Trump’s tariff policies may have dampened OFW remittance volumes earlier this year.

“The Trump Administration's 1 percent tax on remittances by non-residents in the US could be added to the remittance costs of OFWs sending money to the Philippines. This could slow down the OFW remittance sent, and, as a result, reduce spending by OFWs and their families in the country, as the 1 percent tax would go to the US government instead of being spent in the Philippines — equivalent to about P8 billion to P9 billion per year,” he said.

Ricafort added that stricter US immigration policies could also weigh on remittances from OFWs there, and Trump’s broader “America-first” policies may indirectly contribute to slower remittance growth from other regions.