A trade exhibit in one of the malls in Davao City. In 2023, the economy of the Davao region reaches P1.02 trillion, Philippine Statistics Authority – 11 announced on Thursday, 25 April 2024. MindaNew file photo
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 April ) – The Davao region or Region 11 is now among the few regions in the country with a trillion peso economy, officials said.
On Thursday morning, the Philippine Statistics Authority – 11 (PSA-11) announced the results of the 2023 economic performance, which saw the Davao region as the only region in Mindanao to have reached a trillion peso economy.
The Philippines has 17 regions, six of them in Mindanao.
Based on the results, the Davao region emerged as the fifth-fastest growing economy in the Philippines last year.
The region posted a 6.7 percent growth in 2023 to P1.02 trillion from P954 billion in 2022.
“With its growth, the Davao region, which is now a trillion peso economy, joins the other regional economies like Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, and Western Visayas,” PSA-11 OIC director Randolph Anthony Gales said in a news conference held at the Seda Hotel here.
The economic performance of the region is measured by the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) and the Gross Regional Domestic Expenditure (GRDE).
The GRDP is the total value of all goods and services produced within a specific region in a given period, while the GRDE refers to the total amount of money spent on goods and services within a region, which includes the consumption, investments, government spending, and net imports and exports.
For comparison, Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) held the highest valued economy in the country, recording a GRDP of an estimated P6.57 trillion in 2023, followed by Region IV-A or CALABARZON at P3.10 trillion, Region III or Central Luzon with P2.32 trillion, Central Visayas at P1.38 trillion, and Western Visayas at P1.03 trillion.
“The continuing expansion of the economy reveals that the (Davao) region continues to regain economic strength, underscoring the efforts of both the government and the private sector by boosting economic productivity and production and helping business grow, while creating more jobs,” National Economic and Development Authority – Region 11 (NEDA-11)director Priscilla Sonido said in a video message.
Gales noted that the services sector was the main contributor for Davao region’s 6.7 percent economic growth. The services sector contributed 5.1 percentage points, followed by the industry sector at 1.5 percentage points, and agriculture, forestry and fishing at 0.1 percentage points.
The services sector posted P620.08 billion in 2023 from P571.28 billion in 2022, or an 8.5 percent growth. The industry sector grew from P236.58 billion in 2022 to P250.94 billion in 2023, a 1.6 percent growth.
The agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector contributed P147.18 billion for 2023, compared to the P146 billion output in 2022, or a growth of 0.6 percent.
“The expanding Davao economic growth of 6.7 percent was driven mainly by the services sector, mainly from the entertainment, arts, tourism, and other related sectors, ” Gales said.
The Davao region’s 2023 economic growth rate is slightly lower than its 2022 growth of 8.1 percent. It is trailing behind Central Visayas (7.3 percent), Western Visayas (7.2 percent), Ilocos Region (7.1 percent), and Cordillera Administrative Region (6.9 percent).
The national growth rate is 5.5 percent.
Mario Realista, NEDA-11 chief economic development specialist, said the 6.7 percent growth rate falls short from their 7.4 percent target growth for 2023.
He emphasized that the extreme weather condition, the high inflation, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war affected the growth of the region.
“We still see this 6.7 percent as a positive growth… however, especially in the agriculture sector, those [aforementioned] factors are undeniable, we cannot escape these factors,” Realista said.
In Mindanao, the Northern Mindanao economy has an estimated value of P984.75 billion for 2023, Region 12 (Soccsksargen) at P521.18 billion, Zamboanga Peninsula at P447.32 billion, Caraga at P339.65 billion, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at P292.23 billion. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)