Overseas remittances drop 0.8% in 2020 amid pandemic

Cash remittances to the Philippines experienced a slight decline of 0.8% in 2020, amounting to $29.903 billion, a narrower contraction than initially projected.

This overall decrease is attributed to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had previously estimated a two percent contraction for the year, and originally predicted a five percent contraction.

However, inflows increased from countries such as the US, Singapore, and Canada.

Fund transfers from Saudi Arabia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, and Kuwait were down compared to what was recorded previously.