- Filipino seafarers onboard foreign ocean-going vessels sent home 6.14 billion U.S. dollars through the banking system in 2018.
- This amount makes up 4.6 percent or 270 million U.S. dollars from the 5.87 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2017,
- According to the data sources there are over 500,000 at any given time, to include staff on cruise ships.
- Also, personal remittances grew by 3.0 percent year-on-year in 2018, reaching 32.2 billion U.S. dollars, the highest annual level to date.
- These account for 9.7 percent of gross domestic product and 8.1 percent of the gross national income in 2018.
Filipino seafarers onboard foreign ocean-going vessels sent home a record amount of 6.14 billion U.S. dollars through the banking system in 2018, reports China.org
Cash Flow Sources
This amount makes up 4.6 percent or 270 million U.S. dollars from the 5.87 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2017,
“The amount does not include money remitted via non-bank channels as well as cash physically brought home by sailors on vacations,” lawmaker Aniceto Bertiz said in a statement.
By place of origin, Bertiz said the top sources of cash transfers from Filipino sailors in 2018 were –
| United States | 2.31 billion U.S. dollars |
| Singapore | 563.85 million U.S. dollars |
| Germany | 560.98 million U.S. dollars |
| Japan | 435.82 million U.S. dollars |
| Britain | 331.23 million U.S. dollars |
| China’s Hong Kong | 275.53 million U.S. dollars |
| the Netherlands | 259.12 million U.S. dollars |
| Greece | 174.98 million U.S. dollars |
Where do Filipino sailors serve?
“We see the demand for Filipino sailors rising steadily in tandem with international merchant ship traffic, as economies around the world continue to expand,” Bertiz said. He added that the demand will grow as the global economy expands in 2019 and 2020.
Filipino seafarers or seamen serve on bulk carriers, container ships, oil, gas, chemical and other product tankers, general cargo ships, pure car carriers and tugboats around the world.
How many Filipinos are aboard the ships?
According to the data culled by the ACTS-OFW, there are over 500,000 at any given time, to include staff on cruise ships. It said annual deployment or redeployment averages between 450,000 to 480,000.
More than 10 million Filipinos work overseas to seek better opportunities and send back money to their families, government data show. Of this number, around 2.3 million work in the Middle East and Africa.
Growth in Personal Remittance
The Philippine central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data showed that personal remittances grew by 3.0 percent year-on-year in 2018, reaching 32.2 billion U.S. dollars, the highest annual level to date.
According to the BSP the growth in personal remittances during the year was driven by several things. One was the remittance inflows from land-based Overseas Filipinos (OFs) with work contracts of one year or more. Another was the remittance from both sea-based and land-based OFs with work contracts of less than one year. These rose annually by 2.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.
The BSP further said that personal remittances are a major driver of domestic consumption in 2018, accounting for 9.7 percent of gross domestic product and 8.1 percent of the gross national income.
Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: China.org
