The economy of Baguio City has rebounded with a growth of 9.9 percent in 2021 after sustaining a decline in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit globally.
The computation is based on the 2021 Provincial Product Accounts (PPA) conducted for the first time this year by the Philippine Statistics Authority-Cordillera for the provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs), with Cordillera provinces and Baguio City among its pilot areas.
The PPA will serve as a means to derive the gross domestic product (GDP) of the provinces and HUCs to provide a suitable measure of economic performance at the provincial level and as a source of indicators to monitor economic development at the local level.
Based on the 2021 PPA on Baguio, PSA-Cordillera chief statistical specialist Aldrin Federico Bahit, Jr. reported the city’s GDP was recorded P139.2 billion or 9.9 percent higher compared to P126.7B in 2020.
The growth, however, is still short of 17.1 percent for the city to return to its pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, the city’s GDP was P152.9B and P146.9B in 2019.
At any rate, Baguio’s per capita GDP was recorded at P379,712 in 2021, which was 9.0 percent higher than the P347,286 level recorded in 2020. It was also 122.8 percent higher than the per capita GDP of the Cordillera which was at P170,398 in 2021.
Only Baguio recorded a per capita higher than the regional per capita among seven economies in the Cordillera. In fact, among the 46 provinces and 13 highly-urbanized cities piloted this 2022, Baguio has posted the highest per capita GDP.
All major industries of the city also posted growth in 2021.
In terms of the distribution of major industries to the Gross City Domestic Product (GCDP), Baguio’s services dominated with 71.7 percent followed by industry at 27.7 percent, while agriculture and fishing has the least share of 0.6 percent.
Among the 16 production industries, manufacturing had the largest share of the GCDP with 22.2 percent, followed by wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles with 16.6 percent; and financial and insurance activities with 14.4 percent.
City Planning and Development Officer Donna Tabangin said the PPA results on Baguio’s economic performance is timely as the city government was set to have an investments summit, and with the report the city will be able to provide investors a picture of Baguio’s economy based on latest statistics.
“This is the way for us to get partners for the investment projects the city has lined up. Our mayor is talking of catalytic projects which are economic infrastructure. And the only way we can persuade them that Baguio is the really the place to invest is through this data,” Tabangin said.
Starting this year, the PSA will annually release the provincial level economic performances following the identified pilot areas for PPA compilation in 2022.
The PPA is a mechanism to measure the economic performance of the province or highly urbanized city at a given time. It aims to be a part of the process of strengthening the planning and decision-making of policymakers and stakeholders in crafting more informed economic policies and programs. Further, the PPA is set to complement the GDP both at the national and regional levels.
GDP measures the monetary value of all goods, and services produced within the economy in a given period of time while the PPA highlights the economic performance of provinces or cities like how much did the city produce, whether the economy is growing or contracting, and how much contribution does a city contribute to the regional GDP.
“The PPA aims to provide a better picture for local economies for better planning and policymaking. It will be an indicator for provincial planners to narrow down the areas in its economy that need interventions,” PSA-Director Director Villafe Alibuyog said. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
April 20, 2024
