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MANILA, Philippines—As sending money back home to the Philippines was among the cheapest in the region, the country was the fourth-biggest recipient of remittance flows from migrant workers in 2021, the World Bank said.
In its latest Migration and Development Brief published on May 10, the World Bank said that the top five destinations of remittances last year were India ($89 billion), Mexico ($54 million), China ($53 million), the Philippines ($37 million), as well as Egypt ($32 million).
“The Philippines benefited directly from job creation and wage gains in the United States, which accounted for almost 40 percent of remittance receipts,” World Bank said.
“The country registered a moderate 4.3-percent advance in the year to $37 billion,” it said.
The World Bank added that the Philippines and Vietnam “enjoyed positive spillovers from the United States in the form of a fast and strong recovery, generous stimulus payments, as well as record employment and wage growth in 2021.”
As a share of gross domestic product (GDP), cash sent back home by Filipinos working and living overseas was equivalent to 9.3 percent in 2021.
The World Bank said it helped that remittance fees to the Philippines were among the lowest in the East Asia and Pacific region.
Sending money to the Philippines from Kuwait, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Malaysia belonged to the five cheapest corridors in the region during the fourth quarter of last year.
“Remittance inflows to the Philippines and Vietnam are expected to grow 4.4 percent in 2022 and 3.6-4.5 percent in 2023,” World Bank said.
Remittances were the Philippines’ top dollar earner, as well as a driver of domestic consumption among beneficiary-households in an economy that mostly relies on consumer spending.