The Philippines’ 18 regions recorded positive economic growth in 2024, with Central Visayas delivering the fastest rate of 7.3 percent, outperforming the National Capital Region, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Tuesday.
In a statement, the PSA said Caraga came in second at 6.9 percent, followed by Central Luzon at 6.5 percent.
The three regions all outperformed the national level’s 5.7 percent growth rate last year, the PSA said.
Four other regions grew at rates faster than the national level, namely, the Davao Region, at 6.3 percent; Eastern Visayas, 6.2 percent; Northern Mindanao, 6 percent; and the newly created Negros Island Region (NIR), 5.9 percent.
The National Capital Region (NCR) grew 5.59 percent in 2024.
The PSA said the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the slowest economic growth among the 18 regions, at 2.7 percent.
Reinielle Matt Erece, economist at Oikonomia Advisory & Research Inc., said the fast expansion among the regions can be attributed to growth in tourism.
“This can be seen with the high growth of accommodation and food services, especially in Region VII (Central Visayas),” Erece said.
“In addition, a consumption-driven economy also provides resilience from trade uncertainty and supply chain disruptions,” he added.
John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said positive growth across all 18 regions in 2024 is a strong sign of broad-based recovery and resilience in the post-pandemic era.
“Regions outpacing the national growth rate, including Central Visayas, Caraga and Central Luzon, highlight the momentum in regional centers driven by the rebound in tourism, infrastructure rollout, agribusiness and services,” Rivera said.
“This also suggests that decentralization and regional investments are starting to pay off,” he added.
Rivera said that as for the newly created NIR, its 5.9 percent growth in its first year as a unified region is promising.
“It reflects not only its economic potential but also the strong performance of its core sectors such as agriculture, tourism and remittances,” Rivera said.
“With greater administrative focus and coordinated planning, the region could attract more investments and sustain or even accelerate this trajectory moving forward,” he added.
Ateneo de Manila University economist Leonardo Lanzona offered a contrarian view. He said: “These regions have been able to minimize the effects of inflation by ensuring that food is produced within their own or adjacent regions.”
Lanzona added: “While NCR may have a larger share in industry and services, it has almost zero share in agriculture. Furthermore, Central Visayas would seem to have an easier access to food from the other provinces and regions. This also indicates that the government’s program of importing rather than relying on other regions for food has failed to improve food access in NCR.”
The PSA said in terms of regional performance for the services sector in 2024, the NCR registered the biggest share of 41.1 percent.
This was followed by Calabarzon and Central Luzon at 10.9 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
On the share of each region to the whole industry sector, Calabarzon constituted the largest, with 24.7 percent, followed by NCR with 18.3 percent and Central Luzon, 16.3 percent.
For agriculture, forestry and fishing, Central Luzon topped the share, with 14 percent, followed by Northern Mindanao and Davao Region, with 10.5 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively.
At the national level, per capita GDP growth rate in 2024 reached 4.8 percent.
The PSA said Central Visayas topped the regional economies with 6.2 percent per capita growth rate. This was followed by Caraga with 5.8 percent, Central Luzon 5.6 percent, NIR 5.5 percent and Eastern Visayas 5.4 percent.
