The poll, which was based on interviews with 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide, also showed that 17% of adult Filipinos intend to live abroad in the future. According to Philippine Statistics Authority’s estimations, there were 1.83 million of Filipinos working abroad in 2021, and more than 60 % of them were women.
The Social Weather Stations also found that the most popular countries for working abroad were Canada (16%), Saudi Arabia (12%), Kuwait (9%), United Arab Emirates (9%), Japan (7%), Qatar (6%), and the United States of America (6%). In 2021, 78% of overseas Filipinos worked in Asia, most of them in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The survey also indicated that 7% of Filipino households already have a family member working abroad. Most of these households (75%) claimed that they often receive money from the family member working overseas, while 17% declared that they receive money sometimes, 5% seldom, and 3% never. Money from abroad is considered to be a cornerstone of the country’s economy, with record figures reported in 2022 ($32.14 billion).