Economy - overview In 1997 the Philippine economy, primarily a mixture of agriculture and light industry, continued its fifth year of positive economic growth, led by expansion of exports and investment. The government expects growth to slow to about 3% in 1998 due to spillover effects of the financial crisis in East Asia. The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster government revenues, and moving toward further deregulation and privatization of the economy.

GDP purchasing power parity - $244 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 5.1% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $3,200 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 22%
industry: 32%
services: 46% (1996 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 5.1% (1997)

Labor force
total: 29.13 million (1996 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 43.4%, services 22.6%, government services 17.9%, industry and commerce 16.1% (1995)

Unemployment rate 8.7% (1997)

Budget
revenues: $16.3 billion
expenditures: $16.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.7 billion (1996 est.)

Industries textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate 6.3% (1996)

Electricity - capacity 7.64 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 25.65 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 350 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish catch of 2 million metric tons annually

Exports
total value: $25 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: electronics and telecommunications 51%, machinery and transport 10%, garments 9%, other 30%
partners: US 34%, Japan 17%, EU 17%, ASEAN 14%, Hong Kong 4%, Taiwan 4% (1997 est.)

Imports
total value: $34 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: raw materials and intermediate goods 43%, capital goods 36%, consumer goods 9%, fuels 9%
partners: Japan 21%, US 20%, ASEAN 12%, EU 10%, Taiwan 5%, Hong Kong 4%, Saudi Arabia 4% (1997 est.)

Debt - external $45.4 billion (December 1997)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $3 billion pledged at December 1997 for 1998

Currency 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates Philippine pesos (P) per US$1 - 40.2 (April 1998), 26.36 (May 1997), 29.471 (1997), 26.216 (1996), 25.714 (1995), 26.417 (1994), 27.120 (1993)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Philippines on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Philippines Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Philippines Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.