The country’s digital economy expanded by 7.7 percent in gross value added (GVA) last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.
The PSA said the GVA reached P2.25 trillion in 2024, up from P2.09 trillion in 2023.
The PSA highlighted the role of the digital economy as a growth driver, contributing 8.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product last year, the agency statement issued on Monday said.
“Digitalization is a top thrust of our government, digitalizing not just in the public sector but also in the way the private sector deals with government. That’s why there’s so much effort put into digitalization,”
Secretary Arsenio Balisacan of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference on Tuesday.
“We expect the digital economy to be on an uptrend, especially since we’re starting from a low base compared to our neighbors. So that should not be surprising at all,” he added.
The PSA said the size and contribution of the digital economy to the Philippine economy are measured using the Production or Value-Added Approach.
This method summarizes the GVA of all industries identified as part of the digital economy.
The digital economy is composed of digital transactions, which are grouped into four key components: digital-enabling infrastructure, digital content and media, e-commerce, and government digital services.
Among these components, digital-enabling infrastructure contributed the largest share at P1.88 trillion.
The top three industries under this component were professional and business support services, telecommunication services, and ICT manufacturing.
The other components include: e-commerce (13.5 percent), digital content and media (2.4 percent), and government digital services (0.3 percent).
Regarding employment, the digital economy engaged 11.3 million workers in 2024.
This was an increase of 4.8 percent from the 10.78 million recorded in 2023. The sector’s share of total national employment stood at 23.1 percent.
E-commerce accounted for the highest share of employment at 77.9 percent, followed by digital-enabling infrastructure (21.4 percent), digital content and media (0.7 percent) and government digital services (0.1 percent).
“Growth of the digital economy is very significant, reflecting its rising role as a critical growth driver in the Philippine economy. Digital industries now account for a substantial share of GDP, highlighting the country’s progress in digitalization,” John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said.
“Moving forward, growth in this sector (is) likely (to) remain strong, fueled by e-commerce, digital finance, health tech, AI applications, and remote services, although bottlenecks in digital infrastructure and regulatory challenges must be addressed to unlock its full potential,” he added.
