Millions of Filipinos working overseas sent home a record $17.3 billion last year, helping the local economy amid the global financial crisis, the government said Monday. Remittances grew 5.6 percent from a year earlier and accounted for 10.8 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product. Nearly 10 percent of the Philippines' 90 million people work abroad, and the money sent back fuels domestic spending. The steady inflows were made possible by the sustained demand for Filipino labor, especially skilled workers like engineers, nurses and teachers, the central bank said. Other factors included the expansion of services for wiring money to the Philippines, such as remittance centers and banks. In 2008, remittances reached $16.4 billion. The major sources of remittances were the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Britain and Japan.
