World Grain - November 2019 - 24

COUNTRY FOCUS

FOCUS ON

PHILIPPINES

As affluence grows, Filipinos are consuming
more wheat flour-based products
by Chris Lyddon

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sector of its own.
In its September Grain Market Report, the International Grains
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Philippine production of rice is forecast at 12.6 million tonnes
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put at 2.8 million tonnes, compared with 3 million in 2018-19
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"With no commercial production of wheat
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attaché said in an annual report
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wheat and protein.
"Rice remains the main
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natural calamities.
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24

KEY FACTS
Capital: Manila
Population: 105,893,381 (July 2018 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 80.6%, Protestant 8.2%
(includes Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
2.7%, National Council of Churches in the Philippines
1.2%, other Protestant 4.3%), Muslim 5.6%, tribal
religions .2%, other 1.9%, none .1% (2010 est.).
Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between
the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of
Vietnam.
Government: Presidential republic. Chief of state
and head of government is President Rodrigo Duterte
(since June 30, 2016).
Economy: The economy has been relatively resilient
to global economic shocks due to less exposure to
troubled international securities, lower dependence
on exports, relatively resilient domestic consumption,
large remittances from about 10 million overseas
Filipino workers and migrants, and a rapidly
expanding services industry. During 2017, the current
account balance fell into the negative range, the first
time since the 2008 global financial crisis, in part due
to an ambitious new infrastructure spending program
announced this year. However, international reserves
remain at comfortable levels and the banking system
is stable. Efforts to improve tax administration and
expenditures management have helped ease the
Philippines' debt burden and tight fiscal situation.
Although it has improved, the low tax-to-GDP ratio
remains a constraint to supporting increasingly higher
spending levels and sustaining high and inclusive
growth over the longer term. Economic growth has
accelerated, averaging over 6% per year from 2011
to 2017, compared with 4.5% under the MacapagalArroyo government; and competitiveness rankings
have improved. Although 2017 saw a new record
year for net foreign direct investment inflows, FDI to
the Philippines has continued to lag regional peers,
in part because the Philippine constitution and other
laws limit foreign investment and restrict foreign
ownership in important activities/sectors. Although
the economy grew at a rapid pace under the Aquino
government, challenges to achieving more inclusive
growth remain. Wealth is concentrated in the hands
of the rich. The unemployment rate declined from
7.3% to 5.7% between 2010 and 2017; while there
has been some improvement, underemployment
remains high at around 17% to 18%.
GDP per capita: $8,400 (2017 est.); inflation: 2.9%
(2017 est.); unemployment: 5.7% (2017 est.).
Currency: Philippine pesos (PHP): 51.08 pesos equal
1 U.S. dollar (Oct. 21, 2019).
Exports: $48.2 billion (2017 est.): semiconductors
and electronic products, machinery and transport
equipment, wood manufactures, chemicals, processed
food and beverages, garments, coconut oil, copper
concentrates, seafood, bananas/fruits.
Imports: $89.39 billion (2017 est.): electronic
products, mineral fuels, machinery and transport
equipment, iron and steel, textile fabrics, grains,
chemicals, plastic.
Agriculture: 9.6% (2017 est.) of GDP and 25.4%
of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .ph; 56,956,436 users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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