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The Philippines

The Philippines can no longer be regarded as the laggard economy in the Asian region. The country is on the verge of regaining decades lost to slow growth and maligned governance. The current Administration’s good governance efforts instil business confidence that have kept the country on the investors’ radar even amid the financial volatility gripping global economies.

 

Recently, the Philippines was one of the fastest growing economy among Asian countries for the second quarter of 2013, with the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 7.5%, matching the pace of China; and faster than other Southeast Asian economies such as Indonesia (5.8%), Vietnam (5.0%), and Malaysia (4.3%). The development surprised even the optimist analysts who anticipated on growth of 5-6%, despite the downward sliding world economy. 

 

Growth was attributed to the strong performance of the manufacturing and construction sectors, as well as the increase in government and consumer spending. Domestic consumption is also one of the main drivers of growth; fuelled by remittances from about 10 million Filipinos overseas. Moreover, many attribute the country’s sterling performance from sustained confidence in the Aquino government that equates good governance with good economics, transparency in transactions, and budget discipline.

 

For more information, please download The Philippines Labour Market Report 0442571001400030428*APECSkillsMappingEconomyReport-Philippines.pdf

 

For a copy of all the data on this economy available through the Skills Mapping Tool, along with any additional relevant data provided, please download the Philippine Skills Mapping Tool data (excel) 0850799001400030484*Philippines.xlsx

 

Key Statistics

Below are some key statistics for the economy, for more data use the Skills Mapping Tool or download the Skills Mapping Tool data file on this page.

  • Working age population (aged 15-64): 64,626,000.00
    GDP per person employed ($USD): $18,293.62
  • Employment rate (aged 15-64): 59.8
    Lower secondary education completion rate (aged 15-64): 70.1
  • Unemployment rate (aged 15-64): 2.7
    Tertiary education attainment rate (aged 15-64): 26.6

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