Filipino Remittances Climb to $140M
About 55,000 Filipinos in Bahrain sent almost $140 million home in the first half of 2026, up 1.92 pc on a year earlier, even as the kingdom ranked last among the six Gulf states for Filipino remittances.
Transfers reached $139.999m between January and June, up from $137.359m in the same period of 2025, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data.
Of Bahrain’s Filipino community, 49,119 hold work visas, according to figures cited earlier this year by Philippine Ambassador Gines Jaime Ricardo D. Gallaga.
June brought the strongest monthly flow of the first half, with $29.436m sent from Bahrain to the Philippines.
Across the GCC, Filipino workers sent $2.928 billion home in the first six months of the year, up 3.53 pc from $2.828bn a year earlier.
Saudi Arabia led the Gulf with $1.0765bn, accounting for 36.76 pc of the GCC total. The UAE followed with $750.287m, Qatar $508.176m, Kuwait $286.104m and Oman $167.111m.
Bahrain ranked sixth, though its year-on-year total still rose.
The six Gulf states made up almost all Filipino remittances from the Middle East. Transfers from the region reached $3.0315bn in the first half of 2026, with the GCC accounting for 96.6 pc.
Across Asia, Filipino remittances stood at $7.033bn, of which the GCC supplied about 41.6 pc.
Worldwide cash remittances to the Philippines reached $17.1486bn in the first six months of the year, putting the Gulf share at about 17.1 pc.
The rise from Filipino workers came as outward transfers by foreign workers across Bahrain also climbed sharply at the start of the year.
Foreign workers sent BD249.6m abroad in the first quarter of 2026, up 9.1 pc from BD228.8m in the same period last year.
Worker remittances have repeatedly drawn debate in Parliament. MPs have put forward plans to charge fees on money sent abroad by expatriate workers, but the government and Bahrain Chamber have rejected them.
Total worker remittances from Bahrain fell below BD1bn last year to about BD957m.
Active permits held by non-Bahrainis stood at 654,672 at the end of 2025, up 1.8 pc from 643,274 a year earlier.
Separate Social Insurance Organisation data put the number of non-Bahraini private-sector contributors at 478,707 in the first quarter of 2026.
Foreign workers have also gained wider access to bank accounts and payment apps, allowing many to send money abroad without visiting exchange houses.
Remittances are a major source of overseas income for the Philippines, whose workers are spread across the Gulf, Asia and much of the rest of the world.
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