The personal remittances received as share of the gross domestic product in the Philippines amounted to **** percent in 2023. Between 1977 and 2023, the personal remittances received rose by **** percentage points, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) based in the United States were the leading source of remittances received by the Philippines in 2024. Remittances from the U.S. amounted to around ** billion U.S. dollars. Singapore follows, with remittances amounting to around **** billion U.S. dollars. Economic contribution of remittances  Remittances, in case or kind, have been a fundamental source of income in the Philippines. In fact, in 2020, the county ranked second to India when it comes to the total personal remittances received in the Asia Pacific region. Overall, personal remittances contributed about **** percent to the country's GDP. Demographics of OFWs  Of the **** million Filipino labor migrants employed worldwide in 2023, women accounted for the higher share of OFWs compared to men. In terms of age, most women OFWs were between the age of 30 and 34, while the majority of male OFWs were 45 years old and above.

The personal remittances received in the Philippines increased by *** billion U.S. dollars (+* percent) since the previous year. While the growth is steady, with **** billion U.S. dollars, the personal remittances received are at their peak in the observed period. Personal remittances comprise personal transfers and compensation of employees. Personal transfers include all current transfers between resident and nonresident individuals, while the compensation of employees refers to the income of employees who are employed in an economy where they are not resident, as well as of resident employees employed by nonresident entities.

Remittances in Philippines decreased to 2658389 USD Thousand in May from 2663701 USD Thousand in April of 2025. This dataset provides - Philippines Remittances - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

According to the preliminary figures reported for 2024, the value of cash remittances sent to the Philippines by overseas workers reached approximately **** billion U.S. dollars. Most of these remittances came from land-based overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The personal remittances received as a share of the gross domestic product in the Philippines decreased by 0.5 percentage points (-5.31 percent) in 2023 in comparison to the previous year. This marks the lowest personal remittances received during the observed period.

In 2019, the unemployment rate in the Philippines was at approximately 2.24 percent and on a steady downward trend from 3.6 percent in 2014.

Souvenirs from overseas

The Philippines’ economy relies heavily on remittances from overseas, i.e. money sent home by Filipino emigrants and workers in other countries. In 2016 alone, approximately 30 billion U.S. dollars were received as remittances in the Philippines, and the amount seems to increase significantly every year. This makes the Philippines one of the leading countries worldwide when it comes to receiving remittances, only surpassed by India and China.

Visitors from overseas

The Philippines’ economy is stable, not only because of remittances, but also because of a flourishing services sector, which is now the main generator of GDP in the country; tourism and IT in particular contribute to economic growth. More than half of the Philippines workforce is employed in services.

In 2024, the Philippines’ inflation rate amounted to 3.21 percent. The Philippines are considered “newly industrialized”, but the economy relies on remittances from nationals overseas, and the services sector generates most of its GDP . Emerging and soon to develop?After switching from agriculture to services and manufacturing, the Philippines are now an emerging economy, i.e. the country has some characteristics of a developed nation but is not quite there yet. In order to transition into a developed nation, the Philippines must meet certain requirements, like being able to sustain their economic development, being very open to foreign investors, or maintaining a very high stability of the institutional framework (like law enforcement and the government). Only if these changes are irreversible can they be classified as a developed nation. The Philippines’ switch to servicesEver since the switch to services and manufacturing, employment in these areas has increased and the country is now among those with the highest employment in the tourism industry worldwide. This transition was not entirely voluntary but also due to decreasing government support, the liberalization of trade, and reform programs. Still, agriculture is important for the country: As of 2017, more than a quarter of Filipinos are still working in the agricultural sector, and urbanization has only increased very slightly over the last decade.