The Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) experienced a downtrend, registering a 4.3% drop in the second quarter of 2023 from 6.4% in the first quarter of this year.
Figure 1. Gross Domestic Product (At Constant 2018 Prices) Year-on-Year Growth Rates (in percent) Q1 2018-2019 to Q2 2022-2023/Photo courtesy: PSA
The latest report from the Philippines Statistics Authority outlined the key factors behind the Q2 2023 decrease.
Wholesale and retail trade, along with the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, contributed 5.3%. Financial and insurance activities played a role with a 5.0% boost, while transportation and storage sectors surged by 17.3%.
In terms of major economic sectors, agriculture, forestry, fishing, industry, and services all displayed positive growths in Q2 2023, with 0.2%, 2.1%, and 6.0% respectively.
From the demand perspective, Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE) showed a growth of 5.5% during the second quarter of 2023.
Notably, there were also increases in exports of goods and services by 4.1%, and imports of goods and services by 0.4%.
Meanwhile, Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) and Gross capital formation faced contractions of -7.1% and -0.04% respectively.
The Gross National Income (GNI) experienced an expansion of 8.6% in the second quarter of 2023.
"The Gross National Income (GNI) grew by 8.6% in the second quarter of 2023. Likewise, Net Primary Income (NPl) from the Rest of the World grew by 90.6% during the period," the statement read.
Meanwhile, the inflation rate in the country continued its downward trend, easing to 4.7% in July from 5.4% in June 2023.
This marks the sixth consecutive month of deceleration in the overall inflation rate and represents the lowest rate since March 2022 when it stood at 4.0%.
