Based on the results of the 2008 Informal Sector Survey (ISS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), 48.4 percent of the 10,454 informal sector (IS) operators counted in 2008 were engaged in agriculture, fishery and forestry while 45.0 percent comprise the service sector. The remaining 6.6 percent covered the industry sector.  

Of the total IS operators registered in 2008, 23.2 percent graduated from high school; 21.6 percent were elementary undergraduates; 21.4 percent completed elementary; 13.0 percent were high school undergraduate; and, 11.2 percent did not finish college. A lean 6.5 percent of the IS operators were college graduates while the balance of 3.2 percent comprised the group with no grade completed. 

Meanwhile, CALABARZON topped all regions with the most number of IS operators at 11.1 percent or 1,160, followed by Central Luzon and Western Visayas with 8.3 and 8.1 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the Cordillera Administrative Region has the least number of IS operators with only 157 or 1.5 percent.

As to job satisfaction, 80.3 percent of the operators were either satisfied or moderately satisfied and only 5.5 percent were very satisfied. The rest (14.2 percent) were unsatisfied. 

The 2008 Informal Sector Survey (ISS) had two phases namely: a) Phase 1, which was designed to estimate the number of employed persons in informal sector enterprises, was conducted from April 8 to 30, 2008 and, b) Phase 2, which was designed to measure the contribution of informal sector operation to Gross Domestic Product, was conducted from May 1 to 15, 2008. Results for phase 1 of the survey were released on January 14, 2009, ten months after the reference period (April 2007 to March 2008). On the other hand, results for phase 2 are targeted for release by the fourth quarter of 2009.

The ISS is a component of the Interregional Cooperation on the Measurement of Informal Sector and Informal Employment Project and a joint activity of the NSO and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Related Links:

Results from the 2008 Informal Sector Survey

NSO conducted Informal Sector Survey in April 2008