Economy - overview:
The Philippines was less severely affected by the Asian financial crisis of 1998 than its neighbors, aided in part by its high level of annual remittances from overseas workers, and no sustained runup in asset prices or foreign borrowing prior to the crisis. From a 0.6% decline in 1998, GDP expanded by 2.4% in 1999, and 4.4% in 2000, but slowed to 3.2% in 2001 in the context of a global economic slowdown, an export slump, and political and security concerns. GDP growth accelerated to about 5% between 2002 and 2006 reflecting the continued resilience of the service sector, and improved exports and agricultural output. Nonetheless, it will take a higher, sustained growth path to make appreciable progress in the alleviation of poverty given the Philippines' high annual population growth rate and unequal distribution of income. The Philippines also faces higher oil prices, higher interest rates on its dollar borrowings, and higher inflation. Fiscal constraints limit Manila's ability to finance infrastructure and social spending. The Philippines' consistently large budget deficit has produced a high debt level, and this situation has forced Manila to spend a large portion of the national government budget on debt service. Large unprofitable public enterprises, especially in the energy sector, contribute to the government's debt because of slow progress on privatization. Credit rating agencies have at times expressed concern about the Philippines' ability to service the debt, though central bank reserves appear adequate and large remittance inflows appear stable. The implementation of the expanded Value Added Tax (VAT) in November 2005 boosted confidence in the government's fiscal capacity and helped to strengthen the peso, making it East Asia's best performing currency in 2005-06. Investors and credit rating institutions will continue to look for effective implementation of the new VAT and continued improvement in the government's overall fiscal capacity in the coming year.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$443.1 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$98.48 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.3% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$5,000 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 14.3%
industry: 32.1%
services: 53.7% (2006 est.)

Labor force:
36.65 million (2006 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 36%
industry: 16%
services: 48% (2004 est.)

Unemployment rate:
8.4% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line:
40% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 31.9% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
46.6 (2003)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6.6% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
14.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $19.44 billion
expenditures: $21.38 billion; including capital expenditures of NA (2006 est.)

Public debt:
69.6% of GDP (2006 est.)

Agriculture - products:
sugarcane, coconuts, rice, corn, bananas, cassavas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish

Industries:
electronics assembly, garments, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, petroleum refining, fishing

Industrial production growth rate:
2% (2006 est.)

Electricity - production:
53.13 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - consumption:
49.41 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2004)

Oil - production:
25,320 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption:
342,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2001)

Oil - imports:
312,000 bbl/day (2003)

Oil - proved reserves:
152 million bbl (1 January 2004)

Natural gas - production:
2.9 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
2.9 billion cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:
106.8 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

Current account balance:
$5.355 billion (2006 est.)

Exports:
$44.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Exports - commodities:
electronic equipment, machinery and transport equipment, garments, optical instruments, coconut products, fruits and nuts, copper products, chemicals

Exports - partners:
US 18%, Japan 17.5%, China 9.9%, Netherlands 9.8%, Hong Kong 8.1%, Singapore 6.6%, Malaysia 6%, Taiwan 4.6% (2005)

Imports:
$48.76 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

Imports - commodities:
raw materials, machinery and equipment, fuels, vehicles and vehicle parts, plastic, chemicals, grains

Imports - partners:
US 19.2%, Japan 17%, Singapore 7.9%, Taiwan 7.5%, China 6.3%, South Korea 4.8%, Saudi Arabia 4.6%, Hong Kong 4.1% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$20.57 billion (2006 est.)

Debt - external:
$61.49 billion (2006 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
ODA commitments, $2 billion (2004)

Currency (code):
Philippine peso (PHP)

Exchange rates:
Philippine pesos per US dollar - 51.5747 (2006), 55.086 (2005), 56.04 (2004), 54.203 (2003), 51.604 (2002)