Republic of the Philippines
Country Report
The Philippines is an emerging market and a newly industrialized country whose economy is transitioning from being agriculture centered to services and manufacturing centered. It is a founding member of the United Nations, WTO, ASEAN, the APEC forum, and the EAS. The location of the Philippines as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire that is close to the equator makes it prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The country has a variety of natural resources and is home to a globally significant level of biodiversity.
Location
The Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan, Japan, Palau, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China.
Land Mass
300,000 km2
Official Languages
Filipino, English & Visaya
Population (2022)
110,000,000
Head of State
Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Capital
Manila
Status
Unitary Presidential Republic
Economy
In 2020, the Philippine economy produced an estimated gross domestic product of $367.4 billion.Primary exports in 2019 included integrated circuits, office machinery/parts, insulated wiring, semiconductors, transformers; major trading partners included China (16%), United States (15%), Japan (13%), Hong Kong (12%), Singapore (7%), Germany (5%).
A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based upon agriculture to an economy with more emphasis upon services and manufacturing. Of the country’s 2018 labor force of around 43.46 million, the agricultural sector employed 24.3%, and accounted for 8.1% of 2018 GDP. The industrial sector employed around 19% of the workforce and accounted for 34.1% of GDP, while 57% of the workers involved in the services sector were responsible for 57.8% of GDP.
The unemployment rate as of October 2019, stands at 4.5%. The inflation rate eased to 1.7% in August 2019. Gross international reserves as of October 2013 are $83.201 billion. The debt-to-GDP ratio continues to decline to 37.6% as of the second quarter of 2019 from a record high of 78% in 2004. The country is a net importer but is also a creditor nation. Manila hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.