By Katherine K. chan, reporter
money sent home by phillyPinos abroad reached a record high of $35.634 billion in 2025, boosted by gains from the dollar conversion of the weaker peso, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday.
Total cash remittances rose 3.3% year-on-year to $35.634 billion in 2025 from $34.493 billion in 2024, BSP data showed.
The growth in cash remittances last year was well above the BSP's 3% growth projection for 2025.
In December alone, cash remittances rose 4.2% to $3.522 billion from $3.38 billion in the same month in 2024, as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent more money home for the holiday season.
This was the highest monthly level of OFW remittances recorded in history.
Month-on-month, remittances sent home by OFWs increased 21.03% from $2.91 billion in November.
The bulk or 39.7% of cash remittances in 2025 came from Filipinos to the United States, followed by Singapore (7.3%), Saudi Arabia (6.6%), Japan (5%), United Kingdom (4.6%), United Arab Emirates (4.6%), Canada (3.5%), Qatar (2.9%), Taiwan (2.8%) and Hong Kong (2.5%).
Full-year cash remittances from land-based workers stood at $28.495 billion, up 3.4% year-on-year from $27.552 billion.
In December, land-based Filipino workers remained the largest remitters with $2.831 billion, up 4.5% from $2.712 billion in the same month in 2024.
In terms of sources, flows from the US accounted for the lion's share of total land-based remittances, or 41.6%. The rest were from Saudi Arabia (8.2%), Singapore (6.5%), United Arab Emirates (5.7%) and Japan (4.5%).
On the other hand, remittances from sea-based OFWs rose by 2.9% to $7.139 billion in 2025 from $6.941 billion in 2024, an annual growth of 3.3% to $691.037 million in December.
The US was still the top source of sea-based remittances with 32.2% of the total, followed by Singapore (10.3%), Japan (7.1%), the United Kingdom (5.4%) and Germany (5.4%).
weak peso
Meanwhile, personal remittances, which include in-kind flows, rose 3.3% to a new high of $39.619 billion in 2025 from $38.341 billion in 2024.
In December, personal remittances rose 4.2% to $3.892 billion from $3.733 billion in the same month of 2024.
These were also the highest individual remittance levels on record, BSP data showed.
Union Bank of the Philippines Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. “Record-high remittances in December and for the full year 2025 were driven by stable foreign employment, particularly in health care, maritime and professional services, as well as seasonal year-end transfers for household spending, tuition and loan payments,” Asuncion said in a Viber message.
He also attributed the remittance growth to the peso's weak performance in the latter half of last year.
“Furthermore, a weaker peso through 2025 encouraged higher dollar conversions, boosting peso-equivalent inflows and supporting headline growth,” Mr Asuncion said.
Late last year, the peso touched the P58- to P59-per-dollar level several times. It averaged P58.8488 against the greenback in December, based on BSP data.
The peso ended 2025 weaker after closing at P58.79 against the greenback on December 29, which is 94.5 centavos or 1.61% lower than P57.845-per-dollar on December 27, 2024.
Meanwhile, Jonathan L. Reyes, a senior consultant at Tacandong & Co. Ravelas said the increase in remittances in December indicated the resilience of OFWs amid global uncertainties.
“This matters for growth: remittances are likely to add about half a percentage point to gross domestic product (GDP) by supporting consumption, housing and services,” he said in a Viber message.
According to the central bank, cash remittances were to account for 7.3% of Philippine GDP and 6.4% of gross national income in 2025.
Mr. Asuncion said remittances are expected to remain resilient this year due to continued labor demand abroad, stable deployment rates and modest income growth of OFWs.
“However, slower global growth and post-pandemic labor demand normalization may moderate the momentum, making remittances a stable income anchor rather than a strong cyclical growth driver this year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ravelas said a 1% US remittance tax on cash payments, money orders and cashier's checks for US-based senders could reduce flow.
“The main risk going forward is the proposed US remittance tax – it won't derail flows overnight, but higher costs could slow formal transfers and impact momentum over time,” he said.
The 1% tax means that OFWs in the US are now charged one dollar for every $100 they send to the Philippines.
“The main thing is that remittances remain a strong headwind, but we cannot take this lightly,” Mr Ravelas said.
This year, the central bank expects cash remittances to increase Up 3% year over year to $36.6 billion.