Maria Odette G. Abitan of the Policy Formulation and Planning Division of the National Economic and Development Authority–Cordillera Administrative Region (NEDA-CAR) presented the second quarter Regional Economic Situationer (RES) at the Cordillera Regional Statistics Committee (RSC) third quarter regular meeting on 17 September 2024.
The CAR Quarterly RES looks at the performance of the regional economy based on leading economic indicators that include inflation and purchasing power of the peso, employment, investments, agricultural and mineral production, exports, and revenue collections. It references data from reports submitted by partner regional line agencies on a regular basis, official government websites, and leading national, regional and local news publications. The second quarter of 2024 ushered in good news for CAR in the form of above-target Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) growth rate and lower poverty incidence.
The Second Quarter 2024 RES highlighted the region’s GRDP growth rate of 6.9 percent in 2023, well above the target range of 5 to 6 percent in the 2023-2028 CAR Regional Development Plan. Services remained the key driver of the regional economy, growing by 8.9 percent, whereas agriculture, fisheries and forestry (AFF) contracted anew by 1.3 percent as it grappled with challenges that included typhoons Egay and Falcon and the African Swine Flu (ASF).
The second quarter report also included the recently released 2023 poverty statistics that stood at 7 percent among the population, lower than the 9.9 percent poverty incidence recorded in 2021. This is significantly lower than the national average of 15.5 percent.
However, inflation rate was higher for the second quarter of 2024 at an average 4.5 percent from 3.1 percent in the first quarter, with the onset of the tourist season. And in April 2024, the employment rate in CAR dipped slightly to 96.2 percent from 96.7 percent in January 2024, coinciding with lower labor force participation.
According to the report, recent developments allow for a more optimistic outlook in the succeeding quarter, including better weather conditions and the rollout of the ASF vaccine that are both expected to facilitate the recovery of the AFF sector. In the coming years, the region’s performance in terms of gross output and poverty reduction will also likely move forward with the region’s participation in the Regional – National Investment Programming exercise, which has also shown promise in facilitating channeling of resources of national line agencies to regional priority programs and projects, the implementation of the CAR Renewable Energy Master Plan that seeks to develop around 7,000 plus megawatts of the region’s renewable energy potential, and its revitalizing tourism sector.
The full quarterly and annual reports may be accessed through this link: https://car.neda.gov.ph/products-and-services/reports/
The RSC-CAR is a support committee of the Regional Development Council-CAR that provides updates on and directions for statistical development in the region. The committee is chaired by Dir. Susan A. Sumbeling, Regional Director of NEDA-CAR and Vice Chairperson of the RDC-CAR. By Annjay Lhore S. Domilies
