KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 24 October) – South Cotabato posted the fastest economic growth in Region 12 or Soccsksargen region last year, with its gross domestic product (GDP) valued at P148 billion, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
Assistant Secretary Divina Gracia del Prado, deputy national statistician and head of the Sectoral Statistics Office, said that the GDPs of the three other provinces of North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, and the highly urbanized city of General Santos (Gensan) all posted an increase.
Closely trailing South Cotabato was Gensan at 6.8 percent growth, Sarangani with 5.9 percent, North Cotabato with 4.4 percent, and Sultan Kudarat with 2.2 percent.
“In terms of economic structure, all economies in the region were services-based,” she said in a statement.
Services comprise wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities, information and communication, financial and insurance activities, real estate and ownership of dwellings, professional and business services, public administration and defense, compulsory social security, education, human health, and social work activities, among others.
Del Prado said that services accounted for 66.5 percent of the GDP of City of General Santos, 48.5 percent for North Cotabato, 48.4 for South Cotabato, 44.5 percent for Sultan Kudarat, and 38.1 percent for Sarangani.
The GDP is the total value of goods and services produced during a period.
Ma. Eillen Berdeprado, PSA South Cotabato officer-in-charge, said that South Cotabato’s economy expanded by 6.9 percent last year from 2.6 percent in 2023.
The province’s GDP grew to P148.01 billion in 2024 from P138.4 billion the previous year, she added.
“Among the industries, the fastest growth was observed in mining and quarrying with a 454.6 percent (growth),” she said.
In far second was human health and social work activities with 14.6 percent, and electricity steam, water and waste management with 12.8 percent.
Berdeprado noted that the per capita GDP of South Cotabato was estimated at P146,454 last year.
The 2024 per capita GDP is derived by dividing the GDP of a province by its total population based on the 2024 population census.
For General Santos City, its 6.8-percent economic growth last year was faster than the 2.4 percent growth in 2023, said Maqtahar Manulom, PSA-12 regional director.
He said the GDP of Gensan was estimated at P141.19 billion last year from P132.18 billion in 2023.
Among the industries, the fastest growth was observed in accommodation and food service activities with 14.6 percent, Manulom said.
This was followed by professional and business services, and human health and social work activities with 13.7 and 12.9 percent growth, respectively, he added. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
