The gross domestic product or GDP measures the total value of all the final output of goods and services produced in the country at current prices or at constant base year prices. Final product means that intermediate goods which are already part of final goods are excluded.
In the Philippines, government GDP data is available only at the national and regional level. In the absence of this data, the Cebu GDP can be estimated by taking the percentage share of it’s gainful workers by economic sector out of the total number of gainful workers in the region engaged in the same economic activities by sector and apply this to the GDP of the region by sector, then add the result.
Latest data from the 2010 census shows that out of the working age group engaged in agriculture in the region, 39.6 percent came from Cebu.
In industry, consisting of mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and electricity, gas, and water supply, Cebu’s share was 79.3 percent. In services, which includes transport, storage and communications, wholesale and retail trade, finance, real estate and related business, community and professional services, the share of Cebu was 69.3 percent. For all sectors, the total was 61.7 percent.
As of 2017, the Central Visayas GDP was placed at P1.033 billion at current price or P551.2 B at constant 2000 prices. By applying the percentage share of Cebu out of the total number of workers engaged in various economic activities, the GDP of Cebu in 2017 amounted to P637.1 B at current price or P340.1 B at constant 2010 prices.
At constant 2000 prices, the 2017 GDP of Cebu was equivalent to 61.7 percent of the region but only 6.4 percent of the entire country. By sector, Cebu’s total output from agriculture represented 39.6 percent of the region and 1.6 percent of the entire country. Cebu’s share is much higher in industry with 79.3 percent out of the region and 5.7 percent of the country. Cebu’s corresponding share in services was 64.2 percent of the region and 4.0 percent of the country.
The economic structure of Cebu can be seen in the distribution of its GDP by sector. In 2017, Cebu’s economy is no longer dependent on agriculture. Only 3.5 percent of it’s GDP at constant 2000 prices was contributed by agriculture, lower than the region’s 5.5 and the entire country’s 8.5 percent. The bulk of the GDP now comes from industry and services. Industry contributed 49.1 percent and services with 58.6 percent of Cebu’s GDP. Both are higher than the respective share of these two sectors out of the GDP at the regional and national level.
How buoyant is the Cebu GDP? That we can’t see in the figures above. But with almost a third of the GDP of the region coming from Cebu, it is safe to say that much of the economic performance of the region is due largely Cebu’s performance.
See you next week for this.