Philippine 4th top beneficiary of remittances in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is the fourth top beneficiary of international remittances at $34 billion in 2018, according to the Global Migration report of the United Nations’ migration agency.

Remittances from 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) consistently account for 10 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP).  

The International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Global Migration Report 2020 noted that the number of international migrants in 2019 is now estimated at 270 million and the top destination remains the United States, at nearly 51 million.

The IOM said the overall figure represents just a tiny fraction of the world’s population, although it is a 0.1 percent increase on the level indicated in its last report, published two years ago.

“This figure remains a very small percentage of the world’s population (at 3.5 percent), meaning that the vast majority of people globally (96.5 percent) are estimated to be residing in the country in which they were born,” the report said.

According to the UN agency, more than half of all international migrants (141 million) live in Europe and North America.

An estimated 52 percent are male and nearly two-thirds – or around 164 million people – are looking for work.

India continues to be the largest country of origin of international migrants, with 17.5 million living abroad, followed by Mexico (11.8 million) and China (10.7 million).

Other findings indicate that the number of migrant workers declined slightly in high-income countries – from 112.3 million to 111.2 million – but increased elsewhere. The upper middle-income countries saw the biggest increase from 17.5 million to 30.5 million.

Linked to this, international remittances also increased to $689 billion in 2018, IOM said, with the top beneficiaries being India ($78.6 billion), China ($67.4 billion), Mexico ($35.7 billion) and the Philippines ($34 billion).

The US remained the top remittance-issuer, at $68 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates ($44.4 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($36.1 billion).

Although most migrants traveled to the US, the report confirmed other important migration corridors from poorer countries to richer nations like France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

“This pattern is likely to remain the same for many years into the future, especially as populations in some developing sub-regions and countries are projected to increase in coming decades, placing migration pressure on future generations,” IOM said.

Focusing on the Middle East, data showed that Gulf countries have some of the largest numbers of temporary labor migrants in the world, including the UAE, where they make up almost 90 percent of the population.