Philippines migration: diaspora, destinations & visa routes

How many people leave Philippines, where they go and on which visa categories - a cited snapshot for 2025-26, drawn from official statistics and international migration data. Prefer it visual? Explore Philippines on the interactive migration map.

Outbound corridors · Philippines

Philippines - where they emigrate

The world's model labour-export state. ~10M+ overseas Filipinos and a record 2.33M workers deployed in 2023 send home ~US$37B a year (~8.5% of GDP). A government-run pipeline (DMW/OWWA) channels nurses, seafarers, caregivers and domestic workers into the Gulf, US, Canada and Japan.

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10M+

Overseas Filipinos

stock estimate (CFO)

2.33M

workers deployed 2023

land + sea, all-time high

$37.2B

remittances 2023

~8.5% of GDP

#1 Saudi

top deployment dest

419.8k land-based 2023

25%

of world's seafarers

578.6k deployed 2023

4.64M

Filipinos in the US

largest single stock

Where they live

Diaspora stock by country (latest census / official)

United States

4.64M

Canada

957k

Saudi Arabia

865k

UAE

649k

Malaysia

620k

Australia

409k

Japan

325k

Italy

159k

Where they go each year

Estimated annual long-term moves (people / yr)

Saudi Arabia

419.8k

UAE

282.9k

Singapore

182.3k

Hong Kong

175.9k

Qatar

138.2k

Kuwait

~87k

Taiwan

~70k

Japan

~48k

The trend

Philippines total

Personal remittances (US$B)

Source: BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) personal remittances

Corridor facts

SEAFARER SUPERPOWER~25% of the world's 1.6M seafarers are Filipino; a record 578,626 were deployed in 2023, crewing ~30% of the global merchant fleet.

GULF ABSORBS THE FLOWSaudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar took ~840k land-based workers in 2023 - mostly rehires on kafala employment permits, employer-paid, no PR path.

NURSE EXPORT ENGINEFilipinos are the largest group of foreign-educated nurses in the US; ~28,000 sat the US NCLEX licensure exam in 2024, feeding the EB-3 green-card pipeline.

9% OF GDPRemittances hit a record $37.2B in 2023 (~8.5% of GDP), rising to $38.34B in 2024; the US alone sends ~41% of the total.

STATE-RUN PIPELINEThe Dept. of Migrant Workers (merged POEA + 6 agencies) plus OWWA licenses recruiters and vets contracts - labour migration is national policy, not accident.

What visa categories they use

Share of the annual flow, by destination

Saudi Arabia

UAE

United States

Canada

Australia

Japan

Skilled / workFamily / partnerStudyHumanitarian / other

Corridor economics - volume, categories, cost, time

Corridor	Volume	Primary / secondary categories	Govt cost	Time	Apply
Saudi Arabia	~420k/yr	Employment permits under kafala (domestic, construction, services, health) Rehires dominate; employer-paid placement	Employer-paid; worker ~$0-500 (fees capped/banned for household)	2-8 weeks	Check options ›
UAE	~283k/yr	Employment permits (services, hospitality, health, construction) Growing skilled/professional share	Employer-paid; worker ~$0-800	2-6 weeks	Apply ›
United States	~15-20k/yr	EB-3 nurses & family-sponsored green cards H-1B, F-1 study; ~28k took NCLEX in 2024	$3-10k + attorney 3-8k	2-3+ yrs (EB-3 retrogression)	Apply ›
Canada	~10-15k/yr	Caregiver pilots (5,500 spaces/yr) + Express Entry PR Study permits; PSW/health streams	CAD 2-6k + consultant 3-6k	6-18 months	Apply ›
Japan	~25k stock	Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) - care, construction, food service Technical Intern Training (TITP)	Employer + training; worker ~$1-3k	3-9 months	Apply ›

Key insightThe Philippines is the reference case for managed labour export: volume sits in the Gulf on employer-paid kafala permits (cheap per head, no PR), but the fee-and-value density is in the Anglosphere nurse/caregiver corridors (US EB-3, Canada caregiver pilots) where a single family move runs US$5k-15k and ends in permanent residency.

Sources: CFO Stock Estimate · DMW / PSA (deployment) · BSP (remittances) · US Census ACS / DHS · StatCan · AU ABS · Japan ISA · IRCC · ISTAT · World Bank. Figures are indicative planning estimates compiled from public aggregates; confirm current rules with the relevant authority. Editorial & data policy.

Inbound corridors · Philippines

Philippines - who is arriving

Small and retiree-led. The Philippines is a net exporter of people; inbound is dominated by foreign retirees on the Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) plus a modest working expatriate population.

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~60-64k

active SRRV retirees

as of 2025

China/Korea

top retiree origins

+ India, US

Where they come from

Foreign-born stock by origin (latest official)

Data not available.

Who arrives each year

Estimated annual long-term moves (people / yr)

Data not available.

Corridor facts

RETIREE HAVENThe SRRV (since 1985) grants indefinite stay against a deposit; ~60-64k active holders, largely from China, South Korea, India and the US.

Key insightInbound is a rounding error against outbound: tens of thousands of retirees and expats versus 10M+ Filipinos abroad and 2.3M deployed a year.

Sources: Philippine Retirement Authority · Philippine Bureau of Immigration. Figures are indicative planning estimates compiled from public aggregates; confirm current rules with the relevant authority. Editorial & data policy.

Frequently asked

How many people from Philippines live abroad?

10M+ - Overseas Filipinos. Source: CFO Stock Estimate 2013 (~10.2M); govt cites ~10M+.

Where do most people migrate from Philippines?

The top destinations are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore.

What visas do Philippines migrants use for the Saudi Arabia corridor?

Employment permits under kafala (domestic, construction, services, health).

Key Philippines migration corridors

Each corridor has its own key-facts page with volume, visa-category mix and the visa routes that apply.

Philippines → United States~721k/yr Philippines → Japan~670k/yr Philippines → United Arab Emirates~420k/yr Philippines → Canada~356k/yr Philippines → Australia~232k/yr Philippines → New Zealand~83k/yr

See it on the map

Compare Philippines against every other major source and destination country, trace the flow arcs and switch between inbound and outbound on the interactive world map.

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Figures on this page are indicative planning estimates for 2025-26, compiled from public aggregates (UN DESA, OECD and destination-country statistical releases); they are not official counts. General information only, not immigration advice.