Overall Performance

Expenditures on the gross regional domestic product, which is the sum of all final use of goods and services in the regional economies amounted to P 1,209.5 billion in 2005, 5.0 percent higher than its year-ago level of P 1,152.2 billion, but slower than its 6.2 percent growth in 2004 (Table 6.3B).

All the major island groups slowed down in their spending in 2005. The Visayas group posted a 5.7 percent growth, a deceleration from the 7.0 percent in 2004. Similarly, the MIndanao group registered a 4.3 percent growth in 2005, lower than the 5.9 percent it achieved in the previous year. Excluding the National Capital Region (NCR), the rest of the Luzon exhibited a decelerated growth of 3.0 percent from 4.1 percent in 2004. NCR, which as the major economic center of the country has been segregated from Luzon so as to present a more realistic picture of the island, likewise grew at slower rate of 7.1 percent in 2005 from 8.4 percent (Figure 1).

Among the major island groups, other Luzon, notwithstanding the exclusion of NCR, continued to get the lion’s share of the country’s total expenditures with 33.8 percent, slightly lower than its last year’s share of 34.4 percent; followed by Mindanao with 17.7 percent, and Visayas, 16.6 percent share (Figure 2).

The biggest contributor to the increase in the 2005 national expenditures was NCR, with 2.2 percentage points followed by other Luzon, with 1.0 percentage point. The Visayas and Mindanao island groups shared 0.9 and 0.8 percentage point, respectively (Figure 3).

NCR consistently topped the regional share to total expenditures with 31.9 percent of total expenditures, contributing P 385.6 billion. CALABARZON (Region IVA) trails NCR with 12.5 percent, followed by Central Luzon (Region III) with 8.5 percent, and Western Visayas (Region VI), 7.3 percent and Central Visayas (Region VII), 7.1 percent. Meanwhile, Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), CARAGA (Region XIII), and Cagayan Valley (Region II) contributed the least to total expenditures with 0.9 percent, 1.3 percent and 2.0 percent share respectively (Table 6.2 B).

Expenditures of Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX), which accounted for 2.6 percent of total expenditures grew at an accelerated growth of 7.2 percent in 2005 from previous year’s 4.1 percent. MIMAROPA (Region IVB) exhibited the same pattern, expanding its growth from 4.1 percent to 6.5 percent. Three other regions, Central Luzon (Region III), Ilocos Region (Region I) and CARAGA increased spending from 1.8, 5.4 and 3.1 percent to 2.9, 6.0 and 3.5 percent, respectively (Figure 5).

While the rest of the regions experienced decelerated growth, Cagayan Valley (Region II) posted the highest decline of 5.4 percent, a reversal from a high 10.4 percent growth in 2004.

Notes:

1. Follows the configuration set forth in Executive Order (EO) Numbered 103, Dividing Region IV into Region IV-A and Region IV-B, Transferring the Province of Aurora to Region III and for other Purposes, and EO 36, Providing for the Reorganization of the Administrative Regions in Mindanao and for Other Purposes, issued in 2002 and 2001, respectively