Economy-overview: In 1997 the Philippine economy, primarily a mixture of agriculture and light industry, continued its fifth year of positive economic growth, led by expansion of exports and investment. The government expects growth to slow to about 3% in 1998 due to spillover effects of the financial crisis in East Asia. The government has promised to continue its economic reforms to help the Philippines match the pace of development in the newly industrialized countries of East Asia. The strategy includes improving infrastructure, overhauling the tax system to bolster government revenues, and moving toward further deregulation and privatization of the economy.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$244 billion (1997 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 5.1% (1997 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$3,200 (1997 est.)
GDP-composition by sector: agriculture: 22% industry: 32% services: 46% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate-consumer price index: 5.1% (1997)
Labor force: total: 29.13 million (1996 est.) by occupation: agriculture 43.4%, services 22.6%, government services 17.9%, industry and commerce 16.1% (1995)
Unemployment rate: 8.7% (1997)
Budget: revenues: $16.3 billion expenditures: $16.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.7 billion (1996 est.)
Industries: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing