TACLOBAN CITY – The economy of the region expanded by 5.9 percent in 2018 as compared with the 1.8 percent growth in 2017, a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-8) said.
Wilma Perante, PSA regional director, said that the top three industries that contributed to the growth were construction, by 1.8 percentage points; other services, by 1.4 percentage points; and transportation, storage and communication by 1.0 percentage point.
Perante, who made a presentation on the economic situation of the region on Thursday (April 25), said that services accelerated to 10.5 percent in 2018 from 6.2 percent in 2017.
She added that all the sub-industries grew faster: transportation, storage and communication grew by 9.6 percent from 2.3 percent; trade and repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles, personal and household goods grew by 7.4 percent from 4.8 percent; financial intermediation went up by 10.8 percent from 10.3 percent, and real estate, renting and business activities grew by 6.3 percent from 6.2 percent.
The PSA director further added that public administration and defense; compulsory social security expanded by 14.2 percent from 7.7 percent and other services accelerated to 13.0 percent from 8.4 percent.
“Industry rebounded from 1.8 percent contraction in 2017 to 3.5 percent growth in 2018. Industries that recovered from contractions were: mining and quarrying, which grew by 84.7 percent; construction, 17.4 percent; and electricity, gas and water supply, 6.3 percent,” she said.
Meanwhile, manufacturing declined by 5.7 percent from the 13.3 percent growth in 2017. Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) declined by 0.5 percent in 2018 from the 0.1 percent growth in 2017.
Agriculture and forestry slowed down to 1.1 percent from the 2.8 percent growth in 2017. Fishing also continued to decline by 7.4 percent, although at a slower rate than the 10.1 percent contraction in 2017, Perante reported.
Services and Industry shared the bulk of the region’s economy at 44.4 percent and 41.6 percent, respectively. AHFF had a share of 14.0 percent, the source said.
Among the three major industries, services contributed most to the region’s overall growth rate at 4.5 percentage points, followed by industry at 1.5 percentage points. AHFF pulled down the region’s growth by 0.1 percentage point, Perante said.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)
