MANILA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Personal remittances from overseas Filipinos grew by 3.4 percent year-on-year in January 2019 to reach 2.75 billion U.S. dollars from 2.66 billion U.S. dollars, the Philippine central bank said on Friday.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin Diokno said personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more rose to 2.12 billion U.S. dollars, 2.3 percent higher than 2.07 billion U.S. dollars recorded in January 2018.

Meanwhile, those from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year rose by 12.6 percent to 0.58 billion U.S. dollars from 0.52 billion U.S. dollars.

By country or region source, Diokno said the United States registered the highest share of overall remittances at 35.5 percent. It was followed by Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Britain, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Canada, Qatar, China's Hong Kong, and Kuwait.

The combined remittances from these regions accounted for almost 78 percent of total cash remittances, Diokno added.

Overseas Filipinos remittances are one of the largest sources of foreign exchange income in the Philippines.

The government estimates the number of overseas Filipino workers at 10 million, accounting for one-tenth of the country's population.