The Philippines economy beat expectations and managed a growth of 7.7 percent in the last quarter of the year, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
In a briefing on Thursday, National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa said this allowed the economy to post a full-year growth of 5.6 percent, which also overshot the government’s target of 5 to 5.5 percent last year.
PSA data showed the 7.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter is the highest October to December growth recorded by the economy in nine years. This means this is the highest fourth-quarter GDP growth since 2012 when October to December growth reached 7.8 percent.
“The door to our economic recovery is now fully open. The numbers for 2021 show an economy primed to break out,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in his opening statement during the virtual press briefing.
Based on PSA data, from the production side, major industries such as Industry, Services, and Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) grew 9.5 percent, 7.9 percent, and 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter, respectively.
In 2021, Industry grew 8.2 percent and Services posted a growth of 5.3 percent. However, AFF contracted 0.3 percent.
On the demand side, valuables, intellectual property products, and construction posted the highest growth at 60.4 percent, 17.9 percent, and 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, respectively.
In 2021, imports, intellectual property products, and durable equipment posted the highest growth at 17.9 percent, 14.1 percent, and 11.9 percent, respectively.
However, in terms of contribution, Household final consumption expenditure, construction, and government final consumption expenditure contributed the most to GDP at 5.7 percentage points, 1.8 percentage points, and 1 percentage point, respectively.
In 2021, the same items contributed the most to GDP with Household final consumption expenditure, construction, and government final consumption expenditure contributing 3.1 percentage points, 1.3 percentage points, and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes