Money sent home by overseas Filipinos (OFs) continued to increase in May this year, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Data released Tuesday showed that cash remittances went up by 2.9 percent to $2.66 billion in May from $2.58 billion in May 2024.

Of the total amount, remittances from land-based overseas Filipinos accounted for about $2.12 billion while remittances from sea-based OFs amounted to $536 million.

"The increase in cash remittances drove an increase in personal remittances as well," said the BSP.

Personal remittances which include cash sent through banks and informal channels as well as remittances in kind, rose by 3 percent to $2.97 billion from $2.88 billion in May last year.

For the first five months of the year, cash remittances increased by 3 percent to $13.77 billion from $13.37 billion in January to May 2024.

Top sources of remittances were the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Cumulative personal remittances meanwhile also went up by 3 percent to $15.34 billion from last year's $14.89 billion.

PNA PHOTO