TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (PIA) — Accommodation and food services are now the leading economic drivers in Cagayan province as revealed in the latest Provincial Product Accounts (PPA) survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The survey shows that, among the registered industries in the province, accommodation and food services registered the fastest growth at 51.14 percent; followed by transportation and storage at 44.6 percent; and construction at 17.3 percent. Conversely, agriculture, forestry, and fishing grew the slowest at 0.6 percent.
Chief Statistical Specialist Elena U. Rivera presents the result of the 2018-2022 Provincial Products Accounts in a Dissemination Forum held at Pulsar Hotel, Tuguegarao City. (Image by PIA)
Chief Statistical Specialist Elena U. Rivera said the survey proves that the accommodation and food industries have already fully recovered after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Based on the survey, food processing at the household level has increased tremendously. Most of the processed foods are also agriculture-based like the processing of bananas and other root crops into chips, cacao fruits into chocolate balls, fish pastes and other fish-based products, and others that are abundant in the province”, she said.
Rivera also highlighted that food delivery service is a booming industry as shown by the increased employment rate reflected in the survey and that hotel accommodations and homestay services in tourist destinations have also recovered from losses during the pandemic.
She also said transportation and storage, retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles were also the top contributors to the economic growth of the province while mining and quarrying contributed the least.
In the 2018 to 2022 PPA, the economy of Cagayan grew by 8.3 percent in 2022, faster than the 5.6 percent growth recorded in 2021.
Rivera presented that the 2022 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the province was valued at P148.78 billion, translating to an increase of P11.43 billion from its 2021 GDP level. The 2022 GDP also surpassed its pre-pandemic level in 2019, which was estimated at P148.34 billion.
“In 2022, Cagayan was the third fastest economy among the five provinces in the Cagayan Valley Region. Nueva Vizcaya recorded the fastest growth at 13.1 percent, followed by Batanes which grew at 11.5 percent,” Rivera added.
In the whole of Region 2, she added, Isabela had the largest economy accounting for 44.8 percent of the Gross Regional Domestic Product estimated at P421.17 billion in 2022. Cagayan came second, sharing 35.3 percent of the regional economy.
Some of the agriculture-based products developed in Cagayan province. (Photo courtesy of DTI Region 2)
The PPA has been the mechanism of the PSA to compile annual estimates of Gross Domestic Product by province, consistent with regional and national accounts of the Philippines.
Full data series, charts, and data visuals of PPA Cagayan Valley can be accessed at the PPA landing page of the PSA (psa.gov.ph/statistics/ppa), and the PSA Regional website (rsso02.psa.gov.ph/statistics/ppa). (OTB/PIA Region 2 with reports from PSA Cagayan)
