MANILA, PHILIPPINES — In a recent episode of the Truelogic DX podcast titled The State of the Philippine Economy 2023, Truelogic Managing Partner Bernard “Berns” San Juan provided a comprehensive analysis of the country’s economic landscape, highlighting the positive trends and growth prospects.
Berns shared valuable insights and data, emphasizing the need for a more optimistic perspective on the Philippines’ economic future.
One of the key highlights of the episode was the remarkable growth of the Philippines’ GDP, which crossed the $400 billion mark in 2022, surpassing ASEAN and global averages. Berns emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating, “The Philippine economy grew to over 400 billion dollars. That’s a big deal.”
Despite the impressive economic growth, Berns discussed the Consumer Confidence Index, which stood at -15.1, suggesting room for improvement in public sentiment regarding the economy. He noted the disparity between economic growth and consumer confidence and aimed to provide a more positive perspective on the nation’s economic standing.
The episode also delved into per capita income growth, revealing that the average Filipino’s income had increased over the years. Berns highlighted, “The average Filipino is wealthier by about 25, 29,000 pesos annually,” reflecting an improvement in the standard of living.
Another significant point of discussion was the reduction in the poverty rate. Berns presented data from the World Bank, revealing that the poverty incidence had decreased from 23.1% in 2017 to 16.6% in 2022. He acknowledged the progress made in addressing poverty while acknowledging that there is more work to be done.
Berns also discusses the thriving automotive and real estate sectors, with vehicle sales on the rise and an increase in the sale of housing units, indicating strong economic activity.
He noted, “Filipinos have money. You wanna know why it’s traffic on EDSA? Because we buy 200,000 cars every year. And in 2022, that was much larger. And the estimate is that this will grow by 20% year on year on year until we beat the peak of 2017.”
The podcast also delves into the growth of the Philippine digital economy, driven by ecommerce, food delivery, online education, online health services, and online gaming. Berns said, “The Philippine digital economy is roughly almost about 10% of the total economic activity of the country.”
In conclusion, the episode projected an optimistic future for the Philippine economy, with forecasts suggesting further growth, potentially reaching a $600 billion economy by 2028. San Juan encouraged listeners to consider their role in contributing to the nation’s economic growth and prosperity.
“We are growing at a pace or better than our ASEAN neighbors and definitely ahead of the global average. The global economy grows at about 2% to 3%. So we’re doing well. Poverty is down. Nominal per capita GDP is up. We’re buying more cars. We’re buying more homes. We’re buying more stuff online. We’re ordering in more frequently. We are paying for our streaming. We’re no longer stealing our neighbor’s cable. We’re studying online. We’re buying health products online and so on,” he said.
“You are part of this growing economy. The questions you should ask yourselves are ‘How do you participate in growing this economy?’ and we do this by growing our economies. How do you help the business, the organization, and the institute that you work in that puts food on your table, capture more of this economic activity, and help bolster this economic activity? Because I think together, you know, we will be able to buy more homes, buy more cars, get more people out of poverty, and grow the economy faster,” Berns finally said.
If you’d like to learn more about the state of the Philippine economy, contact Truelogic here.
