Photo source: Gulf News
Around 7% of adult Filipinos are looking for work abroad, according to a recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The survey asked 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 and above in person from December 10 to 14, 2022, if they or their family members were currently working overseas. In December 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority said that there were 1.83 million OFWs around the world in the April to September period of 2021. Around 800,000 more were deployed in 2022 as reported by the Department of Migrant Workers. The SWS also found that 75% of households with Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) received remittances.
Remittances are crucial to the Philippine economy, totaling $5.33 billion since the start of the year, with record remittances of $32.14 billion collected in 2022. In February, migrant workers sent back $2.57 billion to their families.
Meanwhile, two out of 10 Filipinos (17%) said they were hoping to live abroad.
The survey also revealed the top seven countries where Filipinos were looking for work:
Canada (16%)
Saudi Arabia (12%)
Kuwait (9%)
United Arab Emirates (9%)
Japan (7%)
Qatar (6%)
USA (6%)
