THE Philippines’ gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 8.3 percent in the last quarter of 2020, bringing the annual growth rate down by 9.5 percent, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced Thursday, January 28, 2021.
This is worse than the 7.3 percent contraction in 1984-1985, when political unrest led to a recession, and the 0.5 percent decline in 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis.
However, the PSA said the country’s GDP posted a quarter-on-quarter growth of 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter, after shrinking by 11.5 percent in the third quarter and by 16.9 percent in the second quarter.
The -16.9 percent growth in the second quarter was the lowest recorded quarterly growth starting the 1981 series.
In a press conference Thursday, National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa said per capita GDP growth rate was -9.5 percent based on the projected population of 109.1 million in the fourth quarter.
Annual per capita GDP for 2020 was -10.7 percent, the agency added.
Growth rates of gross national income (GNI) and net primary income or NPI from the rest of the world were -12 percent and -53.2 percent, respectively.
For the whole year, the PSA said industry posted the largest decline of -13.1 percent. Services and agriculture also posted declines of -9.1 percent and -0.2 percent in 2020.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, industry and services posted positive quarter-on-quarter growth rates of 11.6 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
Agriculture, however, posted quarter-on-quarter decline of -4.1 percent.
“All three major sectors pulled down the growth of the economy in the fourth quarter,” Mapa said.
Agriculture, industry and services contributed -0.3 percentage point, – 3.1 percentage points and – 4.9 percentage points, respectively
Similarly, these also pulled down the annual economic growth, contributing -0.02 percentage point, -4.0 percentage points, and -5.5 percentage points, respectively.
The major contributors to decline from production side in the fourth quarter were: construction (-3.3 percentage points); real estate and ownership of dwellings (-1.6 percentage points); and manufacturing (-1.6 percentage points).
On the demand side, imports of services posted the largest contraction in the fourth quarter at -36.4 percent.
Government final consumption expenditure and Intellectual property products posted positive growth of 4.4 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
The major contributors to decline from expenditure side in the fourth quarter were: construction (-5.9 percentage points); household final consumption expenditure (-5.4 percentage points); and durable equipment (-1.7 percentage points). (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)