Personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $2.1 billion in November 2012, representing an increase of 7.6 percent from the year-ago figure, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Amando Tetangco Jr. announced on Tuesday.

This brought cumulative cash transfers in January to November to $21.6 billion, higher by 6.1 percent than the figures posted in the same period last year.

In his statement, Tetangco said that on a cumulative basis, remittances totaled $19.4 billion for the first 11 months of 2012, higher by 6 percent than the level recorded in the comparable period in 2011.

“This has already surpassed the BSP’s projection of 5-percent growth in cash remittances from overseas Filipinos coursed through banks for the full year 2012,” he said.

Remittances of land-based workers grew by 4.2 percent and 12.5 percent for sea-based workers.

“About 78 percent of cash remittances reported by local banks were sourced from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Japan, United Arab of Emirates and Singapore,” Tetangco said.

Remittances remained strong from the increasing demand for skilled and professional Filipinos abroad, along with innovations in remittance services offered by banks and financial institutions.

Preliminary reports from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) indicated that 42.2 percent, or 329,947 of the total approved job orders of 782,201 in January to December 2012, were processed during the period.

The BSP said that processed job orders were intended mainly for manpower demand for overseas Filipinos in the fields of service, production and related workers, professional, technical and related workers in countries in the Middle East region, particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The sustained demand for overseas Filipino manpower provides support for a continuing favorable outlook for remittances through end-2012.