GDP RATE

MANILA, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The GDP growth rate of the Philippines dropped by 16.5 percent in the
second quarter of 2020, the lowest recorded quarterly growth since 1981, bringing the country to a
technical recession.

In a virtual briefing held on Thursday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the economy
contracted by 16.5 percent during the April to June period, following the downward-revised -0.7 percent
in the first quarter of the year, and 5.4 percent in the second quarter of 2019.

PSA head Dennis Mapa said the main contributors to the decline were: manufacturing, 21.3 percent;
construction, 33.5 percent; and transportation and storage, 59.2 percent.

Among the major economic sectors, the PSA said only agriculture, forestry, and fishing increased with
1.6 percent growth.

The PSA added that industry and services both decreased during the period by 22.9 percent and 15.8
percent, respectively.

On the other hand, the government's final consumption expenditure posted positive growth of 22.1
percent.

The PSA said Net Primary Income from the rest of the world and gross national income both declined by
22.0 percent and 17.0 percent, respectively.

Mapa said that the economic slowdown was "partly because of the April - May corona virus lockdown,"
adding that the second-quarter GDP rate is the "largest decline" so far since 1981.

In mid-March, the Philippines imposed a lockdown in Metro Manila and other parts of the country to
curb the spread of the virus.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-08/06/c_139269367.htm
Services are the biggest sector of the Filipino economy and account for 57 percent of total GDP. Within
services the most important segments are: trade, repair of motor vehicles and household goods (17
percent of total GDP); real estate, renting and business activities (11 percent); transport, storage and
communication (8 percent); financial services (7 percent) and public administration, defense and social
security (4 percent). Industry accounts for 31 percent of GDP. Within industry, manufacturing (22
percent of total GDP) and construction (5 percent) are the most important. Agriculture contributes the
remaining 12 percent of GDP.

https://tradingeconomics.com/philippines/gdp-growth-annual
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

In 2019, the unemployment rate in the Philippines was at approximately 2.15 percent and on a steady
downward trend from 3.6 percent in 2014.

SOUVENIRS FROM OVERSEAS

The Philippines’ economy relies heavily on remittances from overseas, i.e. money sent home by Filipino
emigrants and workers in other countries. In 2016 alone, approximately 30 billion U.S. dollars were
received as remittances in the Philippines, and the amount seems to increase significantly every year.
This makes the Philippines one of the leading countries worldwide when it comes to receiving
remittances, only surpassed by India and China.

Visitors from overseas

The Philippines’ economy is stable, not only because of remittances, but also because of a
flourishing services sector, which is now the main generator of GDP in the country; tourism and IT in
particular contribute to economic growth. More than half of the Philippines workforce is employed in
services.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/578722/unemployment-rate-in-philippines/#:~:text=In%202019%2C
%20the%20unemployment%20rate,from%203.6%20percent%20in%202014.&text=The
%20Philippines'%20economy%20relies%20heavily,and%20workers%20in%20other%20countries.

The unemployment rate in the Philippines jumped to 10.0 percent in the September quarter 2020 from
5.4 percent in the same quarter a year earlier, amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus
crisis. The number of unemployed persons surged by 2.13 thousand to 4.57 million, while the number of
employed dropped by 1.21 thousand to 41.31 million. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate
eased to 61.9 in the third quarter from 62.1 the prior year. Among employed persons, workers in the
services sector made up 48.2 percent of the total, followed by those in the agriculture sector (32.5
percent) and industry (19.3 percent).

https://tradingeconomics.com/philippines/unemployment-rate

INFLATION RATE
http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/spei_new/tab34_inf.htm

The annual inflation rate in the Philippines unexpectedly fell to 2.4% in August 2020 from 2.7% in the
prior month and compared with market consensus of 2.8%. This was the lowest fifure since May, amid
sluggish demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cost eased for alcoholic beverages & tobacco (17.7%
vs 19.3%); food (1.8% vs 2.4%); clothing (1.9% vs 2.2%); education (0.1% vs 0.5%); and miscellaneous
goods and services (2.3% vs 2.5%). In addition, prices of recreation and culture dropped (-0.1% vs 1.1%).
Meantime, inflation was steady for transport (at 6.3%); health (at 2.8%), and communication (at 0.3%);
while little-changed for both housing & utilities (0.9% vs 0.8%); and furnishing, household, routine
maintenance (3.9% vs 4%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell by 0.2%, the first drop in four
months, after a 0.5% rise in July.
Philippines Inflation Rate Slows to 3-Month Low

The annual inflation rate in the Philippines unexpectedly fell to 2.4% in August 2020 from 2.7% in the
prior month and compared with market consensus of 2.8%. This was the lowest fifure since May, amid
sluggish demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cost eased for alcoholic beverages & tobacco (177.7%
vs 19.3%); food (1.8% vs 2.4%); clothing (1.9% vs 2.2%); education (0.1% vs 0.5%); and miscellaneous
goods and services (2.3% vs 2.5%). In addition, prices of recreation and culture dropped (-0.1% vs 1.1%).
Meantime, inflation was steady for transport (at 6.3%); health (at 2.8%), and communication (at 0.3%);
while little-changed for both housing & utilities (0.9% vs 0.8%); and furnishing, household, routine
maintenance (3.9% vs 4%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell by 0.2%, the first drop in four
months, after a 0.5% rise in July 

Philippines Inflation Rate Hits 6-Month High

The annual inflation rate in the Philippines unexpectedly was at 2.7 percent in July 2020, compared with
market consensus and June's figure of 2.5 percent. This was the highest inflation rate since January, as
the economy emerged from COVID-19 restriction measures. Main upward pressure came from
traansport (6.3% vs 2.4% in June); alcoholic beverages & tobacco (19.3% vs 18.5%); food (2.4% vs 2.7%);
housing & utilities (0.8% vs 0.3%); health (2.8% vs 2.8%) and miscellaneous goods and services (2.5% vs
2.3%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.5% in July, the same as in June 

Philippines Inflation Rate at 3-Month High of 2.5% in June

The annual inflation rate in the Philippines rose to 2.5 percent in June 2020 from 2.1 percent in the
previous month and above market consensus of 2.2 percent. This was the highest inflation rate since
March following relaxed COVID-19 measures, with transport prices rebounding (2.3% vs -5.6% in Mayy)
and cost of housing & utilities rising faster (0.4% vs 0.2%). Additional upward pressure also came from
food (2.7% vs 2.9%),alcoholic beverages & tobacco (18.5% vs 18%), clothing & footwear (2.4% vs 2.4%),
furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (4.1% vs 4.1%), recreation & culture (1.2% vs
1.4%), health (2.8% vs 2.8%), communication (0.4% vs 0.3%), restaurant and miscellaneous goods and
services (2.3% vs 2.4%), and education (1.6% vs 4.7%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.5
percent in June, the most since January, after a 0.1 percent in May

Philippines Inflation Rate at 6-Month Low of 2.1% in May

The annual inflation rate in the Philippines edged down to 2.1 percent in May 2020 from 2.2 percent in
the previous month and matching market consensus. This was the lowest inflation rate since November
last year, reflecting weaker economic activity due to the coronavirus outbreak, with transport prrices
falling further on the back of lower oil prices (-5.6% vs -6.2% in April). In addition, cost slowed for food
(2.9% vs 3.4%), clothing & footwear (2.4% vs 2.6%), furnishing, household equipment and routine
maintenance (4.1% vs 4.2%), and recreation & culture (1.4% vs 1.6%); while was little-changed for
alcoholic beverages & tobacco (18% vs 17.9%). At the same time, inflation was steady for housing &
utilities (at 0.2%), health (at 2.8%), communication (at 0.3%), restaurant and miscellaneous goods and
services (at 2.4%), and education (at 4.7%). On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1 percent, after
a 0.1 percent in April

In Philippines, the most important categories in the Consumer Price Index are: food and non-alcoholic
beverages (39 percent of total weight); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (22 percent) and
transport (8 percent). The index also includes health (3 percent), education (3 percent), clothing and
footwear (3 percent), communication (2 percent) and recreation and culture (2 percent). Alcoholic
beverages, tobacco, furnishing, household equipment, restaurants and other goods and services
account for the remaining 15 percent.

https://tradingeconomics.com/philippines/inflation-cpi