ILOILO City – Western Visayas is on track to recovery, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The region’s economy expanded by 5.9 percent in 2021 – a huge rebound from its negative 9.7 percent growth rate in 2020, disclosed the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) yesterday.
“Economic indicators show our region recovering as we enter the new normal and (even if) COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is yet to become endemic,” said NEDA regional director Meylene Rosales.
In a presentation yesterday, PSA regional director Nelida Amolar said of the 5.9 percent growth rate, agriculture, forestry and fishing (AFF) contributed .08 percentage points, industry with 1.6 points, and services with 3.5 percentage points.
All sectors posted positive growth although the AFF decelerated to 4.1 percent from 6.4 percent in 2020; industry up by 7.3 percent from negative 9.3 percent; and services at six percent from negative 14.2 percent.
The region can now “heave a sigh of relief”, said Rosales.
She described as “bright” the prospects for the region’s economy in the next six to 12 months.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic the region’s economy was very close to hitting a trillion pesos, said Rosales.
According to the PSA, Western Visayas remains the fifth largest economy outside the National Capital Region.
In fact, said Amolar, the region’s economic growth rate is two points higher than the national average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 5.7 percent.
Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer units in the region covering all major industries (agriculture, forestry and fishing, industry, and services).
The region’s total gross value added was at P874.1 billion – an increase of P48.7 billion from P825.4 billion in 2020.
Aside from the AFF, the other main drivers were in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles with 7.3 percent; and construction, 13.1 percent.
Among the major industries, Services accounted for 59.0 percent of the region’s total economy in 2021. Industry shared 21.5 percent while AFF shared 19.5 percent.
Of the 5.7 growth in the GDP of the country, Western Visayas was the seventh contributor with 0.3 percentage point, and accounting for 4.7 percent share to the national GDP.
Sub-industries such as mining and quarrying (7.6 percent); manufacturing (5.1 percent); electricity, steam, water and waste management (3.8 percent); and construction (13.1 percent) rebounded from negative growth rates in 2020.
Meanwhile, the fastest growth rate is observed in Human Health and Social Work Activities and Accommodation and food service activities by double-digit growth rate of 18.1 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
