THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that personal remittances from Filipinos abroad reached has hit an all-time high in 2023.

According to the BSP, this is due to the increased deployment of overseas workers.

Data from the BSP indicated that the personal remittances that came from  overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were at USD37.2 billion.

This is up by 3 percent from the USD36.1 billion in 2022.

"The robust inward remittances reflected the rise in the deployment of OFWs due to the continuous increase in demand for foreign workers in host countries," the BSP said.

The BSP said the full-year 2023 remittances accounted for about 8.5 percent and 7.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and gross national income, respectively.

Cash remittances coursed through banks reached USD33.5 billion last year, higher by 2.9 percent from the USD32.5 billion in 2022.

"The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributed mainly to the increase in remittances in 2023," the central bank said.

Likewise the BSP said the US had the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

For his part, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation chief economist Michael Ricafort said Philippine remittances from overseas workers have consistently been the fourth largest in the world after India, Mexico and China.