BY RAYMART ESCOPEL
ILOILO City – Despite the entry of huge investors, Western Visayas’ economy slowed down.
It posted a gross regional domestic product of 4.1 percent in 2013, down almost half from its 7.7 percent performance in 2012, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in Western Visayas.
Super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) partly contributed to the slowdown, said Nelida Losare of PSA-National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB).
Slow growth was noted in the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) sectors. This pulled down the overall economic performance of the region by 0.8 percent, PSA data showed.
Losare noted that the AHFF sector sank deeper to negative 3.3 percent in 2013 from negative 0.1 percent growth in 2012.
All of its subsectors also slowed down as agriculture and forestry decreased from 0.7 percent growth in 2012 to negative 3.1 percent in 2013.
The fishing subsector continued its slump from negative 2.6 percent to negative 4 percent in 2013.
“The sugarcane industry, palay production, livestock and fishery dropped and greatly affected the total performance of AHFF,” Losare said.
Meanwhile, the industry sector contributed 1.7 percentage points to the total economic performance of the region. Though it posted positive growth, the sector still slowed down from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 9.4 percent in 2013.
The biggest contributors of the sector were the manufacturing and construction which grew 10.8 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.
Electricity, gas and water, on the other hand, slumped from 9.8 percent in 2012 to negative 4.5 percent in 2013.
Due to the slower growth of coal, mining and quarrying in Western Visayas posted a negative 5.1 percent growth in 2013 from 4.2 percent growth the previous year.
The largest contributor to the overall economic growth of the region is the service sector (3.3 percent). Still, its growth slowed down – from 7.7 percent in 2012 to 5.7 percent in 2013.
Among its subsectors, the transport, storage and communication, trade, and public administration and defense largely contributed to its decelerated growth.
On the lighter side, “other services and financial intermediation” posted remarkable growth of 4.9 percentage points and 5.2 percentage points, respectively.
Despite the growth of the real estate, renting and business activities, the ownership of dwellings still slumped due to the effects of “Yolanda” which destroyed 230 thousand houses in the region, according to Losanes.
Though the economy of region slowed, she noted that Western Visayas still remained the fifth largest contributor to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The National Capital Region still reigned as the top contributor with its 36.3 percent share.
CALABARZON came next with 17.4 percent GRDP; Central Luzon with 9 percent in third and Central Visayas in came in fourth with its 6.3 percent contribution.
“GRDP is important in tracking the economy of the region and is useful in policymaking,” Losanes said./PN
