The deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the first nine months of 2024 has exceeded the total number for the entire previous year, as revealed by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW). Data show that from January to September 2024, 2,662,720 OFWs were sent to various countries, surpassing the 2,613,903 OFWs deployed throughout 2023.
A closer year-on-year comparison (January to September) highlights that the 2024 figure outpaced the 1,959,446 OFWs deployed during the same period in 2023.
For land-based workers, 2,162,135 OFWs were deployed from January to September 2024, higher than the 1,992,419 land-based OFWs recorded for the entire year of 2023. In comparison, 1,486,127 land-based OFWs were sent abroad from January to September 2023.
Sea-based OFW deployment from January to September 2024 reached 500,585, which, while lower than the full-year 2023 total of 621,484, still marked an increase compared to the 473,319 sea-based OFWs deployed from January to September 2023.
Late last year, DMW Undersecretary Patricia Caunan had expressed optimism, anticipating that the momentum from 2023 would continue into 2024, potentially reaching record-breaking deployment numbers.
