By Claire Morales True, Managing Editor

PASAY CITY/WASHINGTON – The United States remains the biggest country with Filipino population.

This was disclosed by the Department of Foreign Affairs stating Filipinos in the US total 4,424,687.

Canada, on the other hand, hosts 973,881 Filipinos, sending the total to 5,416,536 Filipinos in North America or more than half of the over 10 million Filipinos overseas.

Meanwhile, the DFA said it plans to open a consulate in Seattle, Washington, home to many Filipinos. The state and nearby states are currently served by the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, California.

California has the biggest population of Filipinos with over 1.7 million, most of whom are concentrated in Los Angeles and San Francisco and their suburbs.

Other states with big Filipino population are Hawaii, 367,364 ; Texas, 231,992 ; Nevada, 184,225; Washington, 178,300; Florida; 178,012; Illinois, 174,220; New York, 160, 566; New Jersey, 152,507; and Virginia, 119,497.

Overall, there are more than 10,804,958 Filipinos overseas as of December 2024, the DFA said during the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing.

Surprisingly, Malaysia, which includes erstwhile Philippine territory Sabah, hosts the third largest population of Filipinos with 950,043, the DFA said.

 The DFA also reported at the Senate hearoing that there were 67 Philippine embassies worldwide, with 27 Consulates General and four Permanent Missions.

After North America, the Asia and the Pacific region hosts 2,440,619 overseas Filipinos or 22.59% of the total; and the Middle East with 2,103,142 Filipinos or 19.46%.

The majority or 54.41% of overseas Filipinos are permanent migrants, the DFA reported.

More than a third or 34.59% were documented or temporary migrants, while 11.01% were irregular or undocumented, the agency added.