Philippines GDP Growth Stifled by Calamities, says World Bank

After being struck by many typhoons this year, the Philippine economy is predicted to expand more slowly than initially anticipated, but it should be stronger in 2025 and 2026, according to the World Bank.

Following unfavorable weather in the third quarter, the bank stated in its Philippines Economic Update that the GDP would grow by 5.9% in 2024, which is little less than the initial forecast of 6.0%.

Zafer Mustafaoglu, World Bank country director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam, said, "The country remains vulnerable to extreme weather events such as typhoons and heavy monsoon rains."

The estimates were all below the government's recently lowered goal of 6.0% to 6.5% in 2024 and 6.0% to 8.0 percent in the following two years. The July–September period saw the worst GDP in over a year, a 5.2% decline, as bad weather hampered farm productivity and interrupted government spending. In 2024, growth was 5.8% in the first nine month.

Controlling inflation is essential to the Philippines' growth because it will enable the central bank to keep a more accommodative monetary policy to encourage industry, the bank stated.

According to government statistics, the Philippines' population of nearly 110 million people has a median age of 25.3 years old as of 2020.