Facts on the Philippines: Economy

Economy—overview: In 1998 the Philippine economy—a mixture of agriculture, light industry, and supporting services—deteriorated as a result of spillover from the Asian financial crisis and poor weather conditions. Growth fell to about -0.5% in 1998 from 5% in 1997, but is expected to recover to more than 2% in 1999. The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster government revenues, and moving toward further deregulation and privatization of the economy.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$270.5 billion (1998 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: -0.5% (1998 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$3,500 (1998 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 20%
industry: 32%
services: 48% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: 32% (1997 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 33.5% (1994)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 9.7% (1998)

Labor force: 31.3 million (1998 est.)

Labor force—by occupation: agriculture 39.8%, government and social services 19.4%, services 17.7%, manufacturing 9.8%, construction 5.8%, other 7.5% (1998 est.)

Unemployment rate: 9.6% (October 1998)

Budget:
revenues: $14.5 billion
expenditures: $12.6 billion (1998 est.)

Industries: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: -1.7% (1998 est.)

Electricity—production: 32.2 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—production by source:
fossil fuel: 62.11%
hydro: 20.19%
nuclear: 0%
other: 17.7% (1996)

Electricity—consumption: 32.2 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity—exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity—imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture—products: rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish

Exports: $25 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Exports—commodities: electronics and telecommunications 51%, machinery and transport 10%, garments 9%, other 30%

Exports—partners: US 34%, Japan 17%, EU 17%, ASEAN 14%, Hong Kong 4%, Taiwan 4% (1997 est.)

Imports: $29 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

Imports—commodities: raw materials and intermediate goods 43%, capital goods 36%, consumer goods 9%, fuels 9%

Imports—partners: Japan 21%, US 20%, ASEAN 12%, EU 10%, Taiwan 5%, Hong Kong 4%, Saudi Arabia 4% (1997 est.)

Debt—external: $46.4 billion (September 1998)

Economic aid—recipient: ODA, $1.1 billion (1998)

Currency: 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Philippine pesos (P) per US$1—38.404 (January 1999), 40.893 (1998), 29.471 (1997), 26.216 (1996), 25.714 (1995), 26.417 (1994)

Fiscal year: calendar year