METRO Manila residents spent the most on consumer goods and services in 2018, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday.
In a statement, newly appointed National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa said Metro Manila remained the highest spending region and spent P1.43 trillion in 2018.
The national household spending was at P6.31 trillion during the period. This was based on data from the Gross Regional Domestic Expenditure (GRDE).
“GRDE is defined as the expenditure of residents of the region in the domestic territory plus their expenditures in other regions including the rest of the world,” PSA explained.
Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) in National Capitol Region (NCR) increased 4.25 percent from the P1.37 trillion posted in 2017.
Apart from the NCR, Calabarzon and Central Luzon were also top spending regions with P1.034 trillion and P810.3 billion, respectively.
HFCE spending in Calabarzon grew 5.9 percent in 2018 while in Central Luzon, spending grew faster at 6.8 percent last year.
“HFCE covers both individual and institutional households, as well as nonprofit institutions serving households [NPISH]. It is assumed that the structure of NPISH and institutional households is the same as that of the individual households,” PSA said.
Meanwhile, Central Luzon per- capita household spending posted the highest expansion in real terms at 5.3 percent in 2018. It was followed by Cagayan Valley and Bicol region with 5.2 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
The following regions recorded accelerated growths in their per- capita household spending in 2018: Central Visayas, 4.5 percent; Ilocos region, 4.5 percent; Zamboanga Peninsula, 3.8 percent; Caraga, 3.4 percent; and Cordillera Administrative Region, 2.9 percent.
The remaining regions exhibited decelerated growths: Mimaropa, 5.0 percent; Davao region, 4.9 percent; Calabarzon, 4.0 percent; Western Visayas, 3.9 percent; Eastern Visayas, 3.8 percent; NCR, 3.2 percent; Soccsksargen, 3.2 percent; Northern Mindanao, 2.3 percent; and ARMM, negative 0.4 percent.