PERSONAL remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hit $3.21 billion in June, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported late Thursday, 2.5 percent higher compared to the year-earlier $3.13 billion.

The amount was also higher by 11.3 percent than the $2.88 billion posted a month earlier, preliminary central bank data showed.

This is the highest recorded amount of monthly personal remittances since December last year at $3.63 billion.

"The increase in personal remittances in June 2024 was due to remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more and sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year," the BSP said in a statement.

Money sent home via banks alone totaled $2.88 billion, 2.5-percent up from the $2.81 billion recorded in June last year and also higher than the $2.58 billion posted a month earlier.

"The expansion in cash remittances in June 2024 was due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers," the central bank said.

Year-on-year growth for both personal and cash remittances was the lowest since May 2024, at 3.7 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.

Year to date, meanwhile, personal remittances were 2.9 percent higher at $18.10 billion from $17.59 billion a year earlier, while cash remittances rose 2.9 percent to $16.25 billion from $15.79 billion in the January to June 2023 period.

Cash remittance growth for the six-month period was mainly due to inflows from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, the BSP said.

By country source, the US again accounted for the biggest share (40.9 percent), followed by Singapore (6.9 percent), Saudi Arabia (6.0 percent), Japan (5.0 percent) and the United Kingdom (5.0 percent).

Rounding out the top 10 were the United Arab Emirates (4.1 percent), Canada (3.4 percent), Qatar (2.9 percent), South Korea (2.8 percent) and Taiwan (2.7 percent).

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the rise in remittances was driven by holiday spending during the school vacation season and to cover tuition and other school-related expenses that could have extended until early August 2024.

"For the coming months, a modest growth in OFW remittances could still continue as OFW families/dependents still need to cope up with relatively higher prices locally that would require the sending of more remittances," Ricafort said.