CALAMBA CITY, Laguna (PIA) —The Calabarzon region landed in the top 10 of fastest-growing regional economies in 2024 with a 5.6 percent growth rate surpassing its 5.2 percent growth in 2023.
Charito Armonia, regional director of Philippine Statistics Authority, said Calabarzon’s economy increased to P3.27 trillion in 2024 from P3.09 trillion in 2023 and P2.94 trillion in 2022.
The region’s economic performance is measured through the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) on the production side and Gross Domestic Expenditure (GRDE) on the demand side.
PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa said that GRDP and GRDE are two of the most widely used macroeconomic indicators in the country to provide a comprehensive picture of the economy.
“[The GRDP provides] information on the total of goods and services produced, [while the GRDE] total expenditures of the household of the government imports and exports, among others, making it a vital tool in economic planning and policy making at the regional level,” Mapa added.
Meanwhile, among the 18 regions, Central Visayas posted the fastest growth rate at 7.3 percent followed by CARAGA and Central Luzon with growth rates of 6.9 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.
Davao Region placed fourth at 6.3 percent; followed by Eastern Visayas with 6.2 percent; Northern Mindanao with 6.0 percent, Negros Island with 5.9 percent.
The National Capital Region ranked eighth with 5.59 percent, ahead of Calabarzon at 5.56 percent. Soccsksargen completed the top 10 with 5.5 percent.
The Philippine economy comprises mostly services, with 17 regions identified as services-based with Calabarzon as the only industry-based region.
Meanwhile, the per capita GRDP of Calabarzon is the fifth highest among the regions. The highest per capita recorded is NCR, estimated at P503,048 with BARMM as the lowest with a per capita of P56,640.
On the production side, Calabarzon is the only region that is predominantly industry-based and contributed the major share to the region’s economy.
Armonia said that industry comprised 49 percent of the region’s economy and is equivalent to P1.60 trillion in gross value added (GVA).
“Services followed with a GVA of 1.53 trillion pesos, contributing about 46.8 percent of the regional GDP. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) accounted for 4.2% of the region’s GDP with a total GVA of 136.7 billion pesos,” she added.
The manufacturing industry is the main contributor to Calabarzon’s economic growth, which contributed 1.5 percentage points.
According to the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the top three fastest-growing industries were financial and insurance activities with 13.0 percent, human health and social work activities with 12.8 percent, and public administration and defense/compulsory social security with 11.7 percent.
Calabarzon’s economy is the second-highest contributor to national GDP growth and contributed 0.8 percentage points to the 5.7 percent growth of the Philippines GDP. And also still the second-largest contributor to the total Philippine GDP, accounting for 14.7 percent of the national GDP.
On the demand side, “the top expenditure items posting an increase in spending were recorded in imports of services from the rest of the world at 19.5, followed by construction at 9.4 percent, and exports of services to the rest of the world grew by 7.3 percent. Meanwhile, breeding stocks and orchard development, imports of goods from the rest of the world, durable equipment, and valuables experience contraction,” Armonia reported.
In addition, the per capita household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) of the region was estimated at 159,767, which grew by 4.0 percent from PHP 153,645 in 2023. (KA-PIA4A)
