Date: April 2003

24 Percent of Remittances Not Through Banks

A recent survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) shows that only 76 percent of cash remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was sent through banks, while the rest entered the country by other means.

The report appears to confirm reports that dollar remittances sent by OFWs are actually much higher than reported by the Central Bank. The Central Bank, which estimates the annual cash remittances of Filipinos abroad at US$6 to US$8 billion, bases its data solely on bank transactions.

According to the NSO survey, there are actually three forms of remittances from OFWs, namely: cash sent, cash brought home and cash in kind. Of the total cash sent, only 76 percent is sent through banks while a further 19.4 percent is carried personally (transferred via door-to-door delivery). Of the remainder, around 3.7 percent of the cash sent is channeled through recruitment agencies or local employment offices while 1 percent is personally carried by arriving coworkers, friends or relatives.

In its report, the NSO said the number of OFWs who worked abroad climbed by 2.6 percent to 1.06 million in a six-month period covering April 1 to September 30, 2002 from only 1.03 million a year earlier. Included in the study were only land-based workers. Excluded were seafarers, immigrants and Filipino nationals in other countries even though they are also remitting cash to the country. It was earlier estimated that around 7 to 8 million Filipinos were living or working abroad.

Around 52.5 percent of the 1.06 million OFWs were males while 47.5 percent were females. The 25 to 29 age group had the largest representation in the OFW population. Some 808,000 or 76.5 percent of the OFWs were working in Asia; 121,000 or 11.5 percent in Europe; and 87,000 or 8.2 percent in North and South America.

Most OFWs were laborers and unskilled workers, trades and related workers, and plant and machine operators and assemblers. Most male OFWs were laborers in mining, construction, manufacturing and transport while over 50 percent of female OFWs were sales and service elementary workers (mostly household maids).

There were around 24,000 OFWs working as executives, managers or supervisors; 86,000 as professionals; 80,000 as technicians and associate professionals; and 25,000 as clerks.
The average individual remittances during the period was estimated at P74,487 from April to September 2002, up by 17.1 percent from P63,606 a year earlier.

These figures were based on the interviews conducted by the NSO in different provinces in the country. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issue separate reports.

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