The Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) doubled from 3.6 percent in 2006 to 7.2 percent in 2007. The growth was fueled by the robust performance of all major sectors of the regional economy. The GRDP measures the goods and services produced by all major sectors of the regional economy during the year.

The industry sector, which accounted for 61.7 percent of the region’s total output, accelerated from 2.7 percent in 2006 to 5.2 percent in 2007. Construction more than doubled its growth of 11.4 percent in 2006 to reach 25.1 percent in 2007 due to the continuous climb of public infrastructure. Major construction projects included the Baguio-Aritao Road, the Halsema Highway and the Bontoc-Lubuagan-Tabuk Road. Mining and quarrying turned around from a negative 9.1 percent in 2006 and expanded by 12.5 percent the following year with the rise in the production of gold, copper, and other metallics. The electricity and water subsector also recovered from a decline of 1.9 percent in 2006 to grow by 15.2 percent in 2007 as a result of the increase in the generation of electricity. Manufacturing, the major contributor to the industry sector, suffered a reversal from 5.2 percent in 2006 to negative 1.2 percent in 2007 because of the decrease in semiconductor exports.

The services sector, which comprised 24.0 percent of the GRDP of CAR, grew from 4.9 percent in 2006 to 5.8 percent in 2007. Private services posted the fastest growth among the subsectors at 9.2 percent in 2007. Finance accelerated by 8.9 percent, while trade rose by 6.8 percent. The other sub-sectors continued to grow but at a slower pace. The increase in visitor arrivals and the continuous expansion in business process outsourcing contributed to the good performance of the services sector.

The agriculture, fishery, and forestry (AFF) sector, which accounted for 14.2 percent of the regional economy, surpassed its 5.4 percent growth in 2006 to achieve a phenomenal 19.8 percent growth in 2007. The substantial increase in the production of other crops and the continuous growth in palay, livestock and fishery resulted in the remarkable hike in the agriculture and fishery sector. This was attributed to the government’s intensive support to agriculture, especially for high value commercial crops.