Agriculture output, which accounts for less than a fifth of the gross domestic product, contracted 0.83 percent year-on-year in the third quarter after several typhoons cut rice and corn harvests, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Wednesday.
Four typhoons left billions worth of damage on crop production in the third quarter, partially resulting in tight food supply that pushed inflation rate to a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in September and October.
The PSA said despite the third-quarter contraction, agriculture output grew 0.15 percent in the first three quarters.
It said at current prices, the gross value of agricultural production amounted to P409 billion in the third quarter and P1.3 trillion in January to September.
The crops subsector, which represented 45.58 percent of total agricultural output, fell 3.64 percent in the third quarter as palay and corn production declined 5.7 percent and 14.83 percent, respectively.
“This was attributed to the damage brought by typhoons ‘Henry’, ‘Inday’, ‘Josie’ and ‘Ompong’ in Northern Luzon and the delayed planting due to the on-going rehabilitation of irrigation facilities and late release of irrigation water in Cagayan Valley and Calabarzon. There were also reports of movement of plantings caused by the late occurrence of rainfall in some part of Mimaropa region,” the PSA said.
Meanwhile, output gains were recorded by coconut, sugarcane, banana, pineapple, coffee, mango, tobacco, abaca, tomato and rubber.
Livestock production rose 2.15 percent in the third quarter and accounted for 18.89 percent of the total agricultural output.
It said the poultry subsector produced 5.45 percent more output in July to September and contributed 18.44 percent to the total agricultural production.
Fisheries production sank 2.64 percent and accounted for 17.08 percent of total agriculture output.
Farmgate prices went up 7.71 percent in the third quarter, helping push inflation rate in the period.
Meanwhile, the government revised the second-quarter gross domestic product growth to 6.2 percent from 6 percent.
The PSA said major contributors to the upward revision were other services; real estate, renting and business activity; and mining and quarrying. It also adjusted the gross national income growth to 5.9 percent from 5.8 percent.
The revision brought the first-half GDP growth to 6.4 percent, below the target range of 7 percent to 8 percent for this year.
The PSA will announce the third-quarter GDP figures today. Moody’s Analytics said in a report that the economy likely grew 6.3 percent in the third quarter.
Moody’s Analytics, which operates independently of the Moody’s Investors Service credit rating agency, said investment and domestic demand likely offset a slowdown in factory output in July to September.