The economy of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) further expanded by 6.9% from the 337.8-billion-peso economic output in 2022 to 361.1 billion pesos in 2023. The economic growth of the region was faster than the national growth rate of 5.5% and the fourth fastest among all the regions of the country behind Region VII (7.3%), Region VI (7.2%) and Region 1 (7.1%). The estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region in 2023, however, grew at a slower pace relative to the 8.7% growth recorded during the previous year as with the Philippines GDP growth rate from 7.6% in 2022 to 5.5% in 2023.

The fastest growths were observed in the following industries: Accommodation and food service activities with 31.0%; Other services with 30.6%; and Transportation and storage with 25.7%. Meanwhile, there were three industries that posted contractions in 2023 namely: Mining and quarrying by -1.7%; Agriculture, forestry, and fishing by -1.3%; and Public administration and defense; compulsory social activities by -0.8%.

Cordillera Administrative Region, Growth Rates by Industry: 2022-2023
At Constant 2018 Prices, in Percent 

CAR’s economic growth was mainly driven by Accommodation and food service activities, contributing 1.5 percentage points to the 6.9% growth of the economy in 2023. This was followed by Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles and Manufacturing with 1.4 percentage-point and 0.7 percentage-point contributions, respectively.

The regional economy continued to be Services-dominated with 68.1% share, followed by Industry with 24.2% share, and Agriculture, forestry, and fishing with 7.7% share to the region’s total economy.

Of the 5.5% economic expansion of the country’s GDP in 2023, CAR remained to be one of the least contributors with 0.1 percentage point. Cordillera’s economy accounted for only 1.7% of the national GDP, sixth least across regions.

The per capita GRDP of the region stood at PhP195,162 in 2023. This was 6.1% higher than the PhP183,876 per capita GRDP estimated in the previous year. Per capita GRDP is the total regional GDP levels divided by the total population to construe how much an individual contributes to the regional economy. CAR posted the second highest per capita GRDP among all regions in 2023. NCR had the highest with PhP460,969 per capita GRDP.

CAR imports of goods and services further increase in 2023

Cordillera’s Imports of goods and services from the Rest of the World further expanded from an 88.3% upturn in 2022 to a 23.9% growth in 2023. This was the fastest growing expenditure item in the region, followed by Exports of goods and services to the Rest of the World and Household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) with 23.6% and 5.0% growths, respectively.

The main driver of the growth of the regional economy in terms of expenditure was HFCE with 3.7 percentage points.

Cordillera Administrative Region, Growth Rates by Expenditure Type: 2022-2023
At Constant 2018 Prices, in Percent

The per capita HFCE of the region was estimated at PhP139,681 in 2023. This means that, on the average, an individual member of a household spent 139,681 pesos on final consumption of goods and services that includes purchase of consumer goods and services, barter transactions, good and services in kind, and goods and services produced and consumed by the same individual. The 2023 per capita HFCE of CAR increased by 4.3% from the 2022 level of PhP133,960.

(SGD)
VILLAFE P. ALIBUYOG
Regional Director

AFRBJ/KAMC