 Globally, remittances make up about $230bn |
Money sent home by Filipinos working overseas last year totalled a record $12.8bn (�6.5bn), the Philippines' central bank has said. The remittances - a 20% rise on 2005 - account for about 10% of the country's economy, the bank added.
Most of the eight million overseas workers are in the US or Middle East.
According to the World Bank, the Philippines is the fifth-largest recipient of foreign remittances behind India, China, Mexico and France.
It has forecast that Filipinos will send home about $14.1bn this year.
Their remittances play an increasingly significant role in boosting domestic consumption.
In December 2006 alone, $1.3bn was sent back to the Philippines, the highest amount sent in a single month of the year.
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