GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 24 April) – Five of the six regions in Mindanao landed in the Top 10 fastest-growing regional economies in the country in 2025, with the island’s growth rate exceeding the national rate, latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa said in a statement that all economies of the Philippines’ 18 regions continued to grow last year at constant 2018 prices.
Western Visayas recorded the fastest year-on-year growth rate at 6.4 percent, followed by Caraga Region or Region 13 at second with 5.704 percent growth, closely followed by Negros Island Region (NIR) at 5.699 percent.
Aside from Caraga Region, the other Mindanao regions in the Top 10 last year were Davao Region (Region 11) at 5.15 percent, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 5.0 percent, Northern Mindanao (Region 10) at 4.9 percent, and Soccsksargen (Region 12) at 4.8 percent.
Others in the top 10 were Calabarzon at 5.10 percent, Ilocos Region at 4.52 percent and Central Luzon at 4.46 percent.
Mapa noted the top 10 fastest growing regional economies exhibited higher growth rates than the national level growth rate of 4.40 percent.
Mindanao’s other region, Zamboanga Peninsula or Region 9, posted an economic growth rate of 2.6 percent, landing on the 16th spot out of the country’s 18 regions.
Romeo Montenegro, an assistant secretary at the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), stressed that Mindanao’s growth story continues to gain ground, citing PSA’s 2025 data on the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) performances of the country’s regions.
“Five of the island’s six regions are among the Top 10 fastest-growing regional economies in the Philippines in 2025, with Mindanao posting an average growth of 4.69 percent – higher than the 4.4 percent national rate,” he pointed out.
“This reflects the growing strength of Mindanao’s agro-industries, and the combined impact of private sector dynamism, expanding regional cities, and strategic national investments in infrastructure and connectivity,” Montenegro added.
With peace prevailing over Mindanao in the past several years, investor confidence in the region has also been growing, MinDA data indicated.
From 2019 to 2023, the Board of Investments-approved projects totaled P271.6 billion in the five regions of Mindanao, except BARMM which has its own Bangsamoro Board of Investments (BBOI), according to the “Mindanao in Figures 2024,” a database published by the MinDA.
BARMM was established in 2019 following the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law
Investors’ confidence in the five Mindanao regions was particularly in the uptrend in the three years to 2023– P24.2 billion in 2021, P68.7 billion in 2022 and P97.9 billion in 2023, MinDA data showed. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
