The Philippine economy grew 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
This was slower than the 5.9-percent expansion seen in the first quarter of 2024, but slightly faster than the 5.4 percent growth observed in the fourth quarter. It was also below the government’s 2025 growth target range of 6 percent to 8 percent.
“All major economic sectors, namely agriculture, forestry, and fishing, industry and services posted year-on-year growths in the first quarter of 2025 with 2.2 percent, 4.5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively,” the PSA said.
The main contributors to the first-quarter growth were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, 6.4 percent; financial and insurance activities, 7.2 percent; and manufacturing, 4.1 percent.
On the demand side, household final consumption expenditure grew 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2025. Government final consumption expenditure increased 18.7 percent; gross capital formation, 4.0 percent; exports of goods and services, 6.2 percent; and imports of goods and services, 9.9 percent.
The gross national income grew 7.5 percent in the first quarter of 2025, on the back of a 24.6-percent increase in net primary income from the rest of the world.