PHILIPPINES

Compiled by Economic Research Unit, DFA-OUIER, using the latest data from Philippine Statistics Authority,

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Tourism, and Department of Trade and Industry. As of 20-Jan-20.

* Available data is until Q3 2019 only

Sources: 1Department of Trade and Industry – Tradeline Philippines

PH-WORLD TRADE RELATIONS (in US$M)Year Total Trade Exports Imports Balance of Trade

2015 129.90 58.83 71.07 (12.24)

2016 141.52 57.41 84.11 (26.70)

2017 164.80 68.71 96.09 (27.38)

2018 182.15 69.31 112.84 (43.53)

2019* 150.19 59.97 90.22 (30.25)

* Available data is until Q3 2019 only

Source: Department of Trade and Industry – Tradeline Philippines

TOP TEN IMPORT COMMODITIES OF PH, 2019*

(FOB Value in Million U.S. Dollars)

Commodity Description Value % Share

TOTAL 22,050.04 100.00

OTHER MATERIALS, ACCESSORIES AND SUPPLIES IMPORTED

ON CONSIGNMENT BASIS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES3,627.66 4.0

MATERIALS, ACCESSORIES AND SUPPLIES IMPORTED ON

CONSIGNMENT BASIS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF DICE OF

ANY MATERIAL3,356.47 3.7

DIGITAL MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS 3,020.78 3.3PETROLEUM OILS AND OILS OBTAINED FROM BITUMINOUS

MINERALS, CRUDE2,731.23 2.9

LIGHT PETROLEUM OILS AND PREPARATIONS THEREOF 2,623.48 2.9PARTS AND ACCESSORIES OF THE MACHINES OF HEADING

NO. 84.712,089.71 2.3

OTHER WHEAT AND MESLIN 1,302.58 1.4MOTOR VEHICLES, G.V.W NOT EXCEEDING 5 TONEES, WITH

COMPRESSION-IGNITION INTERNAL COMBUSTION PISTON

ENGINE (DIESEL OR SEMI-DIESEL)1,210.89 1.3

OTHER COAL, WHETHER OR NOT PULVERIZED, BUT NOT

AGGLOMERATED1,046.31 1.2

TRANSMISSION APPATUS INCORPORATING RECEPTION

APPARATUS1,040.93 1.2

TOP TEN EXPORT COMMODITIES OF PH, 2019*

(FOB Value in Million U.S. Dollars)

Commodity Description Value % Share

TOTAL 30,760.56 100.00

DIGITAL MONOLITHIC INTEGRATED CIRCUITS 12,173.33 20.6

SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES MANUFACTURED FROM

MATERIALS ON CONSIGNMENT BASIS6,167.81 10.5

STORAGE UNITS 2,767.37 4.7

IGNITION WIRING SETS AND OTHER WIRING SETS OF A

KIND USED IN VEHICLES, AIRCRAFT OR SHIPS1,930.69 3.3

BANANAS, INCLUDING PLANTAINS, FRESH OR DRIED 1,627.28 2.8

ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC MACHINERY,

EQUIPMENT AND PARTS MANUFACTURED FROM

MATERIALS ON CONSIGNMENT BASIS1,611.83 2.7

INPUT OR OUTPUT UNITS, WHETHER OR NOT

CONTAINING STORAGE UNITS IN THE SAME

HOUSING1,606.94 2.7

STATIC CONVERTERS (E.G. RECTIFIERS) 1,022.21 1.7

CATHODES AND SECTIONS OF CATHODES, OF

REFINED COPPER991.52 1.7

PARTS AND ACCESSORIES OF THE MACHINES OF

HEADING NO. 84.71861.58 1.5

* Available data is until Q3 2019 only

Source: Department of Trade and Industry – Tradeline Philippines

PH TOP FIVE EXPORTS MARKETS (2019)*1

Country Value (in US$) % Share

United States of America 9,655,513,986 16.4

Japan 8,889,940,300 15.1

China 8,096,696,148 13.7

Hong Kong SAR 7,958,853,221 13.5

Singapore 3,166,062,915 5.4

PH TOP FIVE IMPORTS SUPPLIERS (2019)*1

Country Value (in US$) % Share

China 20,504,355,862 22.7

Japan 8,484,432,878 9.4

South Korea 6,999,719,155 7.8

United States of America 6,456,826,249 7.2

Thailand 5,698,470,268 6.3

PH TRADE IN MERCHANDISE (in FOB Value US$M)

2018 2019*p

Total Trade 182,148.27 163,719.40

Exports 69,307.43 64,564.64

Imports 112,840.85 99,154.76

Balance of Trade (43,533.42) (34,590.12)p – preliminary

* Data for 2019 is up to November 2019

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

PH TRADE IN SERVICES (in US$M)2018 2019*p 2018 2019*p

Manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others

4,140.25 3,281.59 Financial Services (287.35) (315.60)

Maintenance and repair services n.i.e (53.97) (50.55) Charges for the use of Intellectual Property n.i.e (872.90) (565.05)

Transport (2,652.99) (1,664.82)Telecommunications, Computer and Information Services

4,948.65 3,564.47

Travel (3,608.41) (1,245.55) Other Business Services 12,025.14 8,778.26

Construction (12.42) (3.03) Personal, Cultural and Recreational Services (125.34) (44.50)

Insurance and Pension Services (1,378.65) (1,098.19) Government Goods and Services, n.i.e (499.31) (387.84)

p – preliminary

* Data for 2019 is up to September 2019

Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

PHILIPPINES

Compiled by Economic Research Unit, DFA-OUIER, using the latest data from World Economic Forum, Trading Economics, United Nations Development Programme,

Philippine Statistics Authority, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Department of Tourism. As of 20-Jan-20.

p – preliminary data

* Available data is until Q3 2019 only

** Available data is Q3 2018-2019 only

Sources: 1Philippine Statistics Authority2Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas3Trading Economics4United Nations Development Programme

KEY ECONOMIC INDICATORS OF PH

2018 2019

GDP Growth Rate (in percent) 1 6.6 6.2**

Gross Domestic Product (in PhpM) 1 17.43 13.34*

Gross National Income (in PhpM) 1 20.91 16.09*

Balance of Payment (in US$M) 2 (8,729.20) (992.40)*

Inflation Rate1 5.2 2.5

Interest Rate (in percent)2 4.75 4.0

Credit Rating3 BBB BBB+

Employment Rate (in percent) 1 94.7 94.9p

Unemployment Rate (in percent) 1 5.3 5.1p

Underemployment Rate (in percent) 1 16.4 14.0p

Labor Force Participation Rate (in percent) 1 60.9 61.3p

Population 15 years and over (in thousand) 1 71,339 72,931p

Poverty Incidence (in percent)1 16.6 -

Human Development Index4 0.699 0.712

TOURIST ARRIVALS IN THE PH (in million)

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*p

PH 5.15 5.78 6.48 7.10 6.75

INVESTMENTS IN THE PH

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019*p

Total Approved Foreign Investments from (in million pesos)1

245.22 219.04 105.64 299.82 381.19

Net Foreign Direct Investments from(in million US$)2

5.64 8.28 10.26 9.83 5.79

p – preliminary data

* Available data is until October 2019

Source: Department of Tourism

p – preliminary data

* Available data is until October 2019

Sources: 1Philippine Statistics Authority 2Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

OVERSEAS FILIPINOS CASH REMITTANCES (in Thousand US$)

2018 2019*p

Landbased 22,803,600 19,436,174

Seabased 6,139,512 5,422,312

p – preliminary data

* Available data is until October 2019

Source: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Source: World Economic Forum

PH GLOBAL RANKING

Index2018 2019

Rank Score Rank Score

Global Competitiveness Index 56 62.1 64 61.9

Tourism Index - - 75 3.8

2019 2020

Ease of Doing Business 124 57.68 95 62.80

PH POPULATION

2010 2015

Philippines 92,335,113 100,979,303

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

The Philippine Economy Highlights

o The Philippines stayed as one of the best-performing economies in Asia

posting a 6.2 percent growth in the third quarter of 2019. Services posted

the fastest growth at 6.9%, industry at 5.6%, while agriculture forestry and

fishing showed 3.1% growth.1

o GDP growth is projected to be between 6.0 to 6.5 percent for 2019 and

6.5 to 7.5 percent in 2020 to 2022. As of the IMF’s latest World Economic

Outlook Report, PH is the second fastest growing economy in East Asia

after Viet Nam, and is ahead of China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and

Thailand.2

o Year-to-date headline inflation for 2019 stands at 2.5 percent.3

o Poverty incidence dropped to 16.6% in 2018.

o The Philippine labor market remains strong with more and better quality

jobs being created in the past three years. Employment rate is at 95.5

percent while unemployment rate is at 5.1 percent (as of October 2019).4

o As of November 2019, total Philippine external trade amounted to

USD163.719 billion. Total exports amounted to USD64.56 billion, while

total imports amounted to USD99.14 billion.5

o In December 2019, the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI) reported

that it breached its annual target of PHP1 trillion when it hit Php1.040

trillion in investment approvals in October – the highest ever in the

agency’s history. The figure is a 139.6% leap from 2018’s Php434 billion

in the same period. Local investments reached Php709.1 billion (up

78.2%) while foreign investments accounted for Php330.9 billion (up

818.2%).6

1http://www.psa.gov.ph/content/philippine-gdp-grows-62-percent-q3-2019 2https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2019/10/01/world-economic-outlook-october-2019#Statistical%20Appendix 3 National Economic Development Authority 4 National Economic Development Authority 5 Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority 6http://boi.gov.ph/boi-approved-investments-breach-historic-p1t-mark-as-of-october/

o The Philippines made a significant improvement in the ease of doing

business from rank 124 in 2019 to rank 95 in 2020, as reported in the

World Bank Doing Business Report.

o The Philippines is a “stable” destination for investments as determined by

international credit rating agencies, with a credit rating of BBB+.

o The number of tourist arrivals amounted to 6.75 million as of October 2019

(published data). The 8 millionth international visitor for 2019 arrived on 27

December 2019 (although official 2019 data is yet to be published by the

Department of Tourism).

o Korea, China, USA, Japan and Australia are among the top 5 source

markets of visitors to the country (as of October 2019).

o The Philippines ranked 75 out of 140 economies in the World Economic

Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019.

o Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (both land-based and sea-

based) reached USD24.8 billion in the first ten months of 2019.

o The Duterte Administration’s flagship infrastructure program “Build, Build,

Build” targets infrastructure spending to reach about 7.3% of the GDP by

2020 from a level of 1-2% of GDP in the last five decades. Currently,

share of infrastructure spending is 5% of GDP.

Tourism Industry Performance

Towards the end of 2019, China remains the 2nd largest source of international visitors of PH after the Republic of Korea.

Year No. of Chinese Arrivals

% Growth Rate

Rank

2014 394,951 4 2015 490,840 24.3% 4 2016 675,663 37.7% 3 2017 968,447 43.33% 2 2018 1,255,258 29.62% 2

Jan –Nov 2018 1,159,998

Jan – Nov 2019 1,626,309 40.20% 2

From January to November 2019, a total of 1,626,309 Chinese tourist arrivals were reached, with an impressive growth of 40.20% from its 1,159,998 visitors the same period the previous year. The Philippines is close to reach its 2 million mark of Chinese tourist arrivals by the end of 2019.

Source: Department of Tourism

Among the top ten markets sources of international visitors from PH from January to November 2019 are: Korea, USA, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.

0

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

Chinese Tourist Arrivals 2019 vs 2019

(January to October)

2019

2018

2019 2018

Jan 131,196 111,344

Feb 175,175 145,536

Mar 158,433 114,549

Apr 139,177 109,789

May 130,788 78,071

Jun 132,792 85,800

Jul 171,848 119,990

Aug 170,903 106,789

Sept 150,505 102,374

Oct 139,707 87,243

Nov 126,785 97,513

Total 1,626,309 1,159,998

Country Jan – Nov 2019

% Share Jan – Nov 2018

% Share Growth Rate (%)

1. Korea 1,785,357 23.86 1,449,673 22.39 23.16 2. China 1,626,309 21.73 1,159,998 17.91 40.20 3. USA 954,952 12.76 929,874 14.36 2.70 4. Japan 623,409 8.33 578,015 8.93 7.85 5. Taiwan 305,570 4.08 222,934 3.44 37.07 6. Australia 249,235 3.33 242,834 3.75 2.64 7. Canada 208,199 2.78 196,780 3.04 5.80 8. United

Kingdom 187,164 2.50 179,264 2.77 4.41

9. Singapore 145,579 1.95 158,012 2.44 -7.87 10. Malaysia 129,150 1.73 133,628 2.06 -3.35

29%

27% 15%

10%

5%

4%

3% 3% 2% 2%

Top 10 Markets by Volume January to October 2019

Korea

China

USA

Japan

Taiwan

Australia

Canada

United Kingdom

Singapore

Malaysia

VISITOR ARRIVALS JANUARY-DECEMBER 2019

VISITOR ARRIVALS

8.26 MILLION

15%

Double-digit growth in arrivals was observed from February to December. The largest volume was recorded in the month of December with 776,798 arrivals, while the highest growth was registered in the month of August with 27.54%.

FIGURE 2: MONTHLY INBOUND VISITOR ARRIVALS

www.tourism.gov.ph

KEY MARKETS, 2019

FIGURE 3: ARRIVALS OF THE TOP TEN MARKETS

Korea is still the biggest visitor-generating market with a total of 1,989,322 arrivals, 22.48% higher than the arrivals in 2018. Since 2010, this market has consistently topped the list of source markets. This year, Korean tourists arriving through Kalibo airport rose massively by 161.35% with the reopening of Boracay. Growth in arrivals from Korea was also recorded in the airports of Cebu with an 11.20% increase and Palawan with 34.33% growth.

Tourism in the Philippines marked a new milestone as the year concluded with 8,260,913 visitor arrivals, up by 15.24% compared to 7,168,467 in 2018. This figure hit the 8.2 million target that was set in the National Tourism Development Plan 2017-2022.

FIGURE 1: INBOUND VISITOR ARRIVALS, 2015-2019

BOHOL

China is the second-biggest source of visitors with 1,743,309 arrivals, posting a substantial growth of 38.58% compared to the arrivals in 2018. This market began occupying the second spot in the top source markets in 2017. In 2019, China was the only market to record one million arrivals in NAIA, the major gateway of the country. Moreover, similar to the Korean market, the Boracay reopening attracted many Chinese tourists as arrivals from China to Kalibo surged by 155.64%. United States of America (USA) still holds the third spot among the top source of visitors with 1,064,440 arrivals, 2.90% higher than the volume in 2018. Increase in arrivals from the USA was recorded in all major ports in the country. Japan placed fourth in the list with 682,788 arrivals, showing a growth of 8.07% from the arrivals last year. The Taiwanese market also showed huge growth with 35.01%, accumulating a total of 327,273 arrivals in 2019. Interestingly, the volume of tourists from Taiwan to Kalibo was about five times higher, from 6,220 arrivals in 2018 to 37,117 arrivals in 2019. Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom all posted positive growth rates in the year in review and remained as reliable sources of visitors. Australia provided 286,170 arrivals with 2.27% growth; Canada contributed 238,850 arrivals with a 5.48% increase while United Kingdom supplied 209,206 with a 4.06% increment. Completing the top ten markets are neighboring markets Singapore and Malaysia. Visitor count from Singapore reached 158,595 arrivals while Malaysia recorded 139,882 arrivals. India and Germany took the 11th and 12th spots respectively by generating more than 100,000 visitors.

Air arrivals comprised 98.04% of the total inbound visitors, equivalent to 8,099,210 visitors. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport, as the main gateway of the country, welcomed 5,087,896 arrivals. Cebu received 1,683,945 visitors and Kalibo Airport recorded 772,501 arrivals. Arrivals in Clark International Airport summed up to 436,235 while the rest of the airports accumulated 118,633 arrivals.

BY PORT OF ENTRY, 2019

CLARK

CEBU

ILOILO PALAWAN

DAVAO

KALIBO

MANILA VOLUME: 436,235

SHARE: 5.28%

VOLUME: 5,087,896

SHARE: 61.59%

VOLUME: 1,683,945

SHARE: 20.38%

VOLUME: 772,501

SHARE: 9.35%

VOLUME: 66,665

SHARE: 0.81%

VOLUME: 3,939

SHARE: 0.05%

Source: Arrival/Departure Cards from Bureau of Immigration.

Total visitors arrival by air

8,099,210

FIGURE 4: AIR ARRIVALS BY PORT OF ENTRY

VOLUME: 36,662

SHARE: 0.44%

www.tourism.gov.ph

VOLUME: 11,367

SHARE: 0.14%

Agriculture Industry Performance In the recent years, agricultural exports to China have substantially increased, from US$ 370.99M in 2016 to US$ 764.13M in 2018, with a total agri trade of US$ 1.299B in 2016 to US$ 1.788B in 2018.

PH-China Agri Trade 2016 – 2019

Year IMPORT (CIF Value in

US$)

EXPORT (FOB Value in

US$

TOTAL TRADE

US$

BALANCE OF TRADE

US$ 2016 927,626,746 370,985,509 1,298,612,255 (556,641,237) 2017 929,463,499 419,430,545 1,348,894,044 (510,032,954) 2018 906,410,157 678,593,601 1,585,003,758 (227,816,556) 2019 (Jan-Sep)

765,989,086 733,728,278 1,499,717,364 (32,260,808)

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

There are four Philippine fruits, i.e. Cavendish bananas, pineapples, mangoes and papayas, which are allowed for export to China. Cavendish bananas remained to be the top PH agri export to China with 54% share in the Chinese market. Also, PH remained to be third biggest exporter for Cavendish bananas to China, after Chile and Thailand. Towards the end of 2019 (January to September), the leading agricultural export to China is fresh bananas (Cavendish) which amounted to total exports at US$ 456.6 million, while the top agricultural import from China is fresh apples, amounting to US$ 117.86 million.

Summary of Fresh Fruits Exports to China 2016 – 2019 (Jan to Sep)

In US Dollars

Particulars 2016 2017 2018 Jan – Sep

Cavendish bananas

193,157,380 173,430,545 467,278,045 456,623,859

Pineapples 56,893,023 49,003,401 5,272,681 97,869,765

Mangoes 2,693,818 1,553,971 41,000 142,450 Papayas 406,493 416,872 - -

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Aside from fresh and frozen fruits, fish and fishery products are also allowed for export to China for as long as these come from accredited fishery establishments.

Top 10 PH Exports to China January to September 2019

Commodity Description Value in US$ 1. Cavendish banana 456,623,859

2. Fresh Pineapples 97,869,765 3. Other banans 36,464,438 4. Refined, bleached and deodorized 22,344,532 5. Banana chips or crackers 21,063,780 6. Live eels (Anguilla spp.) 9,638,600 7. Desiccated coconuts 6,775,419 8. Live mud crab (Scylla serrata) 6,206,620 9. Eucheuma spp. Fit for human

consumption 5,677,410

10. Coconut crude oil 4,748,021 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Top 10 PH Imports from China January to September 2019

Commodity Description Value in US$ 1. Fresh Apples 70,044,091 2. Frozen Mackarel (Scomber

scombrus, Scomber australasicus, Scomber japanicus)

32,175,594

3. Glucose Syrup 31,005,096 4. Frozen cuttlefish 28,769,801 5. Other mixed condiments and mixed

seasonings, including belachan (blachan) in bulk container

28,769,801

6. Glucose 26,079,316 7. Malt, not roasted 24,619,397 8. Non-dairy creamer 24,221,870 9. Other maltose and maltose syrups 22,420,617 10. Tomato paste 20,078,754

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority