The Philippines showed medium to high likelihood of achieving its 2028 targets for development, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Monday.
Data from the PSA revealed that 247 out of the 439 or 56.3 percent of the regular indicators evaluated across 14 development sectors showed improved progress towards the economic and social goals of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028.
The PSA said that in the 2024 statistical indicators on Philippine development (StatDev), the services, science and technology, competition, peace, security and justice, and employment sectors demonstrated strong and promising performances.
The human and social development, macroeconomy, governance, infrastructure, environment, and trade and investment sectors recorded average performances. Meanwhile, the social protection, agriculture and agribusiness, and industry sectors showcased low likelihood of achieving their 2028 development targets.
It said that in contrast to its headline indicators on a national scale, only the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate remained “slightly far” from its end-of-plan (EOP) target of 6.5 to 8.0 percent. This was despite the increase in GDP growth from 5.5 percent in 2023 to 5.7 percent in 2024.
The national government deficit to GDP ratio also narrowed to 5.6 percent last year, while the country’s gross national income per capita increased by 3.5 percent. Both reflected progress that suggests medium likelihood of attaining its EOP targets.
Formulated and maintained by the PSA, the StatDev serves as an early warning measure that tracks whether the country’s progress is on or off track for its EOP targets aligned to the PDP 2023-2028. The StatDev data are updated annually and released every July.
The Philippines has a moderate chance of achieving more than $6,000 gross national income (GNI) per capita by 2028, according to the PSA.
“In 2024, the country’s GNI per capita increased by 3.5 percent to $4,470 from 2023’s $4,320, which shows medium likelihood of attaining the EOP target of $6,044 to $6,571,” the PSA said.
The PSA said the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in 2024 from 4.4 percent in 2023, surpassing the lower limit of the desired range of 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent.
The percentage of wage and salary workers in private establishments to total employed workers slightly picked up to 50.9 percent in 2024 from 49.9 percent in 2023. This improvement shows a high likelihood of achieving the EOP target of 53.0 percent to 55.0 percent, it said.
The national poverty incidence, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose per capita income is not sufficient to meet their basic food and non-food needs, was recorded at 15.5 percent in 2023. “With an end goal of 8.8 percent to 9.0 percent, the latest report indicates a high likelihood of attaining the EOP target,” the PSA said.
Latest data show an increase of 0.6 percent in national government debt stock as a percentage of GDP, to 60.7 percent in 2024 from 60.1 percent in 2023. “Despite the undesired increase, there is still medium likelihood that the EOP target of between 48.0 percent to 53.0 percent will be met,” the PSA said.
