Number of deployed overseas Filipino workers 2012-2024

In 2024, preliminary figures recorded about 2.47 million Filipinos leaving the Philippines to work overseas — a number higher than the previous year's estimates. The number of deployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) significantly plummeted between 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Leading occupation of deployed OFWs 

Among the newly hired land-based overseas Filipino workers in 2023, about 158,000 of them were domestic cleaners and helpers, followed by domestic housekeepers. Filipino domestic cleaners and housekeepers have been in demand in several countries, particularly in the Middle East and Hong Kong. These countries usually offer higher wages and better employment benefits for such jobs, in comparison to employers in the Philippines.

Increasing demand for healthcare workers 

Aside from domestic cleaners and housekeepers, recent years reflected a growing demand for healthcare workers, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Saudi Arabia was the leading destination of deployed Filipino nurses, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany.