Manila Times
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Saturday, May 17, 2025
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Philippine Economy Grows 5.4% in Q1 2025
Despite a slowdown, the Philippine economy shows resilience as key sectors contribute to growth.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy expanded by 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on May 5. This growth rate represents a decrease from the 5.9% GDP growth recorded in the first quarter of 2024 and falls short of the government's full-year growth target of 6% to 8% for 2025.
The PSA identified wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (6.4% growth), financial and insurance activities (7.2%), and manufacturing (4.1%) as the main contributors to the growth during the quarter.
Notably, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) sector recorded a significant 2.2% expansion in the first quarter of 2025, up from 0.5% in the same period last year, marking it as the highest growth among all industries.
Both the industry and services sectors experienced slight year-on-year declines.
Industry growth decreased to 4.5% in the first quarter of 2025, down from 5.2% in 2024, while the services sector dipped to 6.3% from 7.0%.
Despite this, the services sector remained the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, accounting for 3.9 percentage points of the total 5.4% growth.
The industry contributed 1.3 percentage points, and AFF added 0.2 percentage points.
The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev), formerly known as the National Economic and Development Authority, indicated that the economic growth, although below initial expectations, signifies steady progress, with the figure showing a slight increase from the 5.3% recorded in the last quarter of 2024.
DepDev Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon stated that the strong domestic demand portrays resilience against global economic uncertainties, despite cautioning over the volatility in global demand.
She referred to the impact of broader global economic changes, including trade tensions resulting from U.S. tariffs on various partners, including the Philippines.
The World Bank has revised its growth projections for the Philippines downward from 6.1% to 5.3% for 2025, reflecting these trade dynamics.
As it stands, the Philippines shares the second position as the fastest-growing economy in Asia with China, while Vietnam remains the leader in regional economic growth.
The PSA identified wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (6.4% growth), financial and insurance activities (7.2%), and manufacturing (4.1%) as the main contributors to the growth during the quarter.
Notably, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) sector recorded a significant 2.2% expansion in the first quarter of 2025, up from 0.5% in the same period last year, marking it as the highest growth among all industries.
Both the industry and services sectors experienced slight year-on-year declines.
Industry growth decreased to 4.5% in the first quarter of 2025, down from 5.2% in 2024, while the services sector dipped to 6.3% from 7.0%.
Despite this, the services sector remained the largest contributor to the country’s GDP, accounting for 3.9 percentage points of the total 5.4% growth.
The industry contributed 1.3 percentage points, and AFF added 0.2 percentage points.
The Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev), formerly known as the National Economic and Development Authority, indicated that the economic growth, although below initial expectations, signifies steady progress, with the figure showing a slight increase from the 5.3% recorded in the last quarter of 2024.
DepDev Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon stated that the strong domestic demand portrays resilience against global economic uncertainties, despite cautioning over the volatility in global demand.
She referred to the impact of broader global economic changes, including trade tensions resulting from U.S. tariffs on various partners, including the Philippines.
The World Bank has revised its growth projections for the Philippines downward from 6.1% to 5.3% for 2025, reflecting these trade dynamics.
As it stands, the Philippines shares the second position as the fastest-growing economy in Asia with China, while Vietnam remains the leader in regional economic growth.
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