#philippine-statistics-authority-psa — Public Fediverse posts

Philippines Economic Weakness Continues As 2nd Quarter GDP Growth Lands At 2.3%

The economy of the Philippines slowed down even further in the 2nd quarter of 2026 landing at 2.3%, according to a news report by GMA News. Embarrassingly, this made the Philippines an economic weakling among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

By comparison, the economy of the Philippines achieved only 2.8% growth in the 1st quarter of this year. The nation’s economic growth for 2025 was at 4.4%

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA News report. Some parts in boldface…

The Philippine economy continued to slow down in the second quarter of 2026, still due to a subdued investor and consumer sentiment amid the lingering effects of the flood control corruption scandal and the inflationary pressure brought by Middle East crisis-induced global fuel price shocks, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday.

At a press conference, PSA chief and National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said the economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP)—the value of goods and services produced in a period— grew 2.3% in the April to June 2026 period, slower than the 2.8% growth seen in the first quarter of 2026.

This is the economy’s weakest footing since the fourth quarter of 2009 —excluding the contraction seen during the COVID-19 pandemic years— when the GDP growth rate was at 1.8%.

The 2.8% second quarter GDP growth put the Philippines behind its neighbors in Southeast Asia that already released their April to June economic growth rates such as Indonesia at 5.29%, Vietnam at 8.39%, and Singapore at 5.7%.

The first half of 2026 GDP growth rate stood at 2.6%, still behind the government’s downwardly revised target of 3.5% to 4.5% for the entire year.

Despite the economic slowdown, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said, “What we are experiencing right now, I believe, is transitory, temporary.”

“Domestic demand remained subdued, mainly because total investment continued to contract as public construction declined. Household consumption growth also moderated amid higher inflation, job losses, and lower remittance receipts arising from the Middle East conflict,” Balisacan said.

Household final consumption expenditure grew 2.8%, slower than 5.2% in the same period last year, weighed by contractions in transport (-7.5%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (-1.9%), recreation and culture (-0.8%), and restaurants and hotels (-0.2%).

Government expenditure, likewise, slowed down by 8.3% from 8.7% year-on-year; while gross capital formation (GCF) —which measures investments— contracted by 9.2% from a growth rate of 0.9% a year ago.

The decline in GCF was due to the decline in construction at 14.8% with government spending on construction contracting 32.4%.

“Although public construction is a small part of the economy, the amount of contraction, at 32%, brought a significant impact on the economy,” Balisacan said.

“The sharp decline in public construction was the main contributor in the decline in investments… driven by continuous caution due to the flood control scandal,” the country’s chief economist said.

Among the major economic sectors, agriculture posted a growth rate of 2.7%, slower than 7% year-on-year; industry declined by 2.4%, from an increase of 2.1% weighed by the construction’s depreciation; services grew slower at 4.5% from 6.9%.

Agriculture, industry, and services sector contributed 7.5%, 27.9%, and 63.3%, respectively to the total GDP during the quarter.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the economy of the Philippines will eventually fall into a recession in 2027? Do you believe that the hosting of the ASEAN summit by the Philippines will result in economic miracles and more foreign investment?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Philippines July 2026 Inflation Still Above Government Ceiling

Inflation here in the Philippines for the month of July 2026 landed at 6.2% which is clearly above the government’s comfortable ceiling of 2% to 4%, according to a business news report by GMA News.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA News business report. Some parts in boldface…

The country’s inflation rate slowed down further for the third straight month in July 2026 amid improved fuel supply conditions during the period, when the Middle East conflict was waning.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, National Statistician and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) chief Claire Dennis Mapa said inflation — the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services — slowed down 6.2% last month from 6.4% in June 2026.

July’s inflation print brought the year-to-date rate to 5%, still above the government’s comfortable ceiling of 2% to 4%.

Mapa said the main contributor to the downtrend was the slower increase in the Transport index at 11.9% from 12.8% month-on-month.

“Ito [Transport] ay may 57.4% share sa pagbaba ng pangkalahatang inflation sa bansa (It had a share of 57.4% to the overall deceleration of the country’s inflation),” the PSA chief said.

This as inflation for gasoline and other passenger transport by road slowed down to 34.1% from 39.2% and 5.3% from 5.4%, respectively.

Meanwhile, food inflation was steady at 5.3%, as lower meat prices and slower increases in vegetable prices offset sharper rice inflation.

“Every peso saved from slower price increases means more room for the family budget for food, transport, education and other essential needs,” Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDev) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said in a statement.

“While challenges remain, particularly in managing food price pressures, these results show that our interventions are making a difference in easing the impact on Filipino households,” Balisacan said.

The DEPDev chief the government’s UPLIFT Committee will continue implementing targeted interventions to protect vulnerable sectors from the effects of higher prices and other economic shocks.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Do you think the government is running out of new ideas on bringing down inflation? Do you think the high inflation is a sign that the economy of the Philippines will grow weaker going into 2027? Do you think inflation will end up above 5% by the end of this year?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Tourism’s Contribution To Philippines GDP The Lowest In 3 Years

Given the fact that the Philippines has been having trouble attracting foreign tourists and their money, it has been confirmed that the tourism industry’s contribution to the national economy in 2025 fell down to a 3-year low, according to a news report by BusinessWorld. For insight, the Philippines attracted 5.94 million foreign tourists in 2025 while Indonesia attracted 15.39 million, Vietnam attracted a record-high 21.2 million and Thailand attracted almost 33 million.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the news report of BusinessWorld. Some parts in boldface…

THE TOURISM industry’s contribution to the Philippine economy fell to its lowest level in three years in 2025, weighed down by weaker tourism spending by foreign visitors, according to data from the statistics agency.

Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed tourism’s direct gross value added (TDGVA) accounted for 8.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, down from 8.7% of GDP in 2024.

This was tourism’s lowest contribution to the national output in at least three years or since 2022 when it contributed 6.3% to the country’s GDP.

The country’s TDGVA was estimated at P2.27 trillion last year, down by 1.4% from the revised P2.3 trillion in 2024.

The TDGVA measures the value generated from various tourism-related activities and is based on the results of the Philippine Tourism Satellite Accounts report, which the PSA compiles from the Department of Tourism.

Tourism Congress of the Philippines President James M. Montenegro said the drop reflected external pressures, structural constraints and a weaker recovery in international tourism relative to the rest of the Philippine economy.

“While domestic tourism remained resilient, inbound tourism weakened significantly in 2025, which pulled down overall tourism value creation,” Mr. Montenegro said in a Viber message.

He said a major factor was the slower-than-expected recovery of inbound tourism from key Asian markets such as China and India even after the Philippine government eased visa requirement for Chinese and Indian nationals.

Mr. Montenegro said another challenge is the Philippine tourism industry’s ability to remain competitive in attracting foreign tourists. He said the Philippines should prioritize making key destinations more accessible to major regional markets.

“Many neighboring countries accelerated aggressive tourism recovery programs, including visa-free access, expanded airline incentives, stronger destination marketing, and airport infrastructure improvements. The Philippines continued to face challenges in air connectivity, airport capacity, inter-island transport efficiency, and tourist friction points,” Mr. Montenegro said.

He said that while the Philippines’ tourism sector has one of the highest contributions to GDP in Southeast Asia, it continues to lag behind regional peers in attracting tourists.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Were you surprised that the Philippines remained weak on attracting foreign tourists even though some reforms were implemented? Do you think the local tourism authorities should focus more on domestic tourism which itself remains strong and growing? What are the biggest hassles that tourists experience here in the Philippines when it comes to traveling by air, sea and land today?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Philippines Inflation Jumps To 4.1% In March 2026

With the sharp spikes on fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East, the inflation rate of the Philippines jumped to 4.1% for the month of March 2026, according to a news report by GMA Network.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from GMA News. Some parts in boldface…

Inflation rate sped up in March driven by the series of hikes in the retail prices of petroleum products due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

At a press briefing, National Statistician and PSA chief Claire Dennis Mapa said inflation — the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services — accelerated to 4.1% last month from 2.4% in February 2026 and 1.8% in March 2025.

This was the quickest inflation rate since the 4.4% in July 2024.

Year-to-date inflation rate stood at 2.8%, still within the government’s 2% to 4% ceiling.

Mapa said the main culprit from the higher inflation print was Transport index which saw an inflation rate of 9.9%, a reversal from 0.3% decline month-on-month, and a 54.8% share to the overall uptrend.

“Ang nag-ambag sa mas mataas na antas ng inflation ng Transport nitong Marso 2026 ay ang pagtaas ng presyo mula sa pagbaba ng presyo noong Pebrero 2026 ng mga gasolina at diesel,” he said.

(The main contributor to the higher Transport inflation in March 2026 was the increase in the prices of gasoline and diesel from a decline seen in February 2026.)

In particular, inflation for gasoline soared to 27.3% last month from -5.7% in February while diesel’s inflation rose to 59.5% from -1.3% a month prior.

The global oil price shock amid the continuing US-Israel versus Iran conflict has caused petroleum pump prices in the country to jack up to historic highs in March.

Also contributing to inflation acceleration in March was the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages index which climbed to 3% from 1.8% in February with an overall share of 26.9% to the uptrend, driven by cereals (such as rice) growing 3.7% from -1.3% in the prior month.

The inflation for Housing, Water, Gas and Other Fuels index likewise increased to 4.5% from 3.5% month-on-month with a share of 12.7% on the back of increments across electricity (9.2% from 6.7%), LPG (2.2% from -2.2%), and rentals (3.2% from 3%).

Inflation felt by the bottom 30% income households clocked in at 4.2% from 2.5% in February, bringing its first quarter average to 2.8%.

The inflation for the bottom 30% income class was brought about by the 3.9% growth in Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages as well as Transport which posted a 7.2% from a contraction of 0.6% in the previous month.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: What is your reaction to this recent development? Considering how high fuel prices are, do you think it is a matter of time before the nation’s inflation rate surpasses 5% in the next month or two? Do you think the government of the Philippines can provide financial relief as inflation spikes?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco