Philippines Economy Q1 2022 | ASEAN Fastest Growing Economy | Highest GDP Growth in ASEAN

Philippines Economy Q1 2022 | ASEAN Fastest Growing Economy | Highest GDP Growth in ASEAN

Q1 2022 GROWTH
THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY grew by a higher-than-expected 8.3% in the first quarter, surpassing the pre-pandemic output level as household spending increased amid the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Preliminary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA showed gross domestic product accelerated by 8.3% year on year in the January to March period, a turnaround from the 3.8% contraction in the same period last year. It has also beaten the revised 7.8% growth in the fourth quarter of 2021.
It also exceeded the median estimate of 6.7% in a BusinessWorld poll and was within the government’s 7% to 9% target.
On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, the country’s GDP improved by 1.9%.
The first-quarter growth was the highest in three quarters or since achieving 12.1% in the Q2 of 2021.
“We have surpassed the pre-pandemic gross domestic product level,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said at a press briefing on Thursday, adding the 8.3% expansion made the Philippines the fastest-growing economy in the East Asia Region in the first quarter.
At constant 2018 prices, the size of the Philippine economy in the first quarter was valued at P4.618 trillion, surpassing the P4.463 trillion in the first three months of 2019.
In current terms, the country’s economic output in the first three months of 2022 amounted to P4.930 trillion, higher than the P4.426 trillion in the first quarter of 2019.

GROWTH SECTORS
“Growth in the first quarter of 2022 was broad-based as most sectors rebounded from their contractions in the same period last year,” Mr. Chua said.
By expenditure share, household consumption grew 10.1% year on year in the first quarter, higher than the 7.5% in the previous quarter and a reversal of the 4.8% decline in the first three months of 2021. This accounted for about three-fourths of the country’s economic output and added 7.5 percentage points to the 8.3% GDP growth in the first quarter.
Government spending on the other hand, eased by 3.6% in the three months to March, lower than the 16.1% in the same period a year ago, due to the election spending ban.
Capital formation, the investment component of the economy, increased by 20%, reversing the 13.9% decline last year.
Meanwhile, exports of goods and services improved by 10.3%, reversing the 8.4% fall last year. Similarly, imports grew by 15.6%, a turnaround from the 7.5% decline a year ago.
All major industries achieved growth in the first quarter with agriculture, forestry and fishing with 0.2% (from -1.3% last year), industry with 10.4% (from -4.2%), and services with 8.6% (from -4%).
Gross national income, the sum of the nation’s GDP and net income received from overseas, jumped 10.7% during the period, a turnaround from the 10.5% contraction a year ago.

ASEAN GROWTH LEADER
Exceeding a median analyst forecast of 6.6 percent in Q1 2022, the Philippines is currently the fastest-growing economy in the ASEAN region.
The 8.3% figure achieved in Q1 2022 is higher than the 7.8% expansion in the Q4 of 2021 and is the highest among its ASEAN peers.

ASEAN 6 Q1 2022 Growth Rates:
Thailand – 2.2 %
Singapore – 3.7%
Malaysia – 5.0%
Indonesia – 5.01%
Vietnam – 5.03%
Philippines – 8.3%

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