Wholesale, retail trade among the top contributors to Cebu tri-cities’ economy

Financial and insurance activities of the tri-cities of Cebu also help in boosting these cities' economy

FILE PHOTO/Christian Dave Cuizon

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) published the results of the 2022 Provincial Product Accounts (PPA). 

Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City, are included in the top 10 list of the provinces and HUCs that posted a growth of their GDP per capita. 

The City of Baguio has the highest per capita GDP in 2022 among pilot provinces and HUCs with P420,016.

READ: Cebu’s inflation rate rose in Feb compared to January

Melchor Bautista, chief statistical specialist of the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) in Cebu Province, explained to CDN Digital some information about the result. 

Bautista said that the growth rate is the increase or decrease of the economy of a particular place. 

He also confirmed that the figures presented by ranking were the amount of the local government’s or HUC’s GDP per capita contribution to the country’s whole economy. 

(Note: GDP Per Capita = Value of Economy’s GDP divided by the Population).

“Not necessarily nga [for example] ang Baguio ang number one in the list, mas dako pa siya og ekonomiya kaysa Cebu City in terms of level of the economy. Note that Cebu City’s GDP at constant 2018 price as of November 2023 is about 288.644 billion pesos, while ang Baguio is about 155.026 billion pesos,” Bautista said. 

(Not necessarily that [for example] Baguio is the number one in the list, it has a bigger number than Cebu City in terms of the level of economy. But note that Cebu City’s GDP at constant 2018 price as of November 2023 is about 288.644 billion pesos, while Baguio is about 155.026 billion pesos.)

In Central Visayas, Cebu City with 22.4 percent has the second highest share to the region’s 2022 GDP, next to Cebu Province with 30.1 percent.

Source: PSA

READ: Inflation softened in Jan to over three-year low of 2.8%

Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City had 11.8 percent share and 8.5 percent share, respectively. 

It is also worth noting that the wholesale and retail trade, financial and insurance activities, and real estate and ownership of dwellings, were among the primary contributors to the cities’ economy. 

Cebu City

In Cebu City, the ‘wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ had the highest share in the local government’s industry with 26.5 percent (26.8 percent in 2021).

The second on the list was the ‘financial and insurance activities’ with 20.4 percent (20.8 percent in 2021), and the third was the ‘real estate and ownership of dwellings’ which remained 9.4 percent. 

Source: PSA

Lapu-Lapu City

Meanwhile, in Lapu-Lapu City, the industry that has the highest share was the ‘manufacturing’ industry with 47.2 percent (49.8 percent in 2021). 

The second industry that had the highest share was the wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ with 9.9 percent (9.7 percent in 2021). And the third industry one was ‘transportation and storage’ with 7.4 percent (4.1 percent in 2021). 

Source: PSA

Mandaue City

In Mandaue City, the top industry that had the greatest share was the ‘wholesale and retail trade, and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ with 30.0 percent (28.3 percent in 2021). 

The second top contributor was the ‘manufacturing’ industry with 25.8 percent (27.4 percent in 2021), and the third was the ‘financial and insurance activities’ with 11.4 percent (11.6 percent in 2021). 

Source: PSA

Subsequently, the other industries that had their share to the three local governments’ economies were the education, construction, professional and business services, information and communication, mining and quarrying; agriculture, fishing, and fishing, and the accommodation and food service activities; and the electricity, steam water and waste management, among others.