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Ilocos Region’s economy, as measured by the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), grew by 6.7 percent in 2000, a turn around from the 0.4 percent drop in 1999. The recovery was on account of the expansions in all the three major sectors.

The Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (AFF), which contributed the biggest share to the GRDP at 42.5 percent, recorded the highest growth, at 8.9 percent, way above its 0.4 increase in 1999. The improved production in palay, other crops, livestock and poultry and fishery due to favorable weather condition contributed to the improved performance of the sector.

Industry, which accounted for 16.3 percent of the region’s economy, recovered from its contraction of 11.8 percent in 1999, and grew by 4.3 percent this year. This improvement was due to the accelerated growth of all its subsectors, except for Mining and Quarrying, which registered a negative growth of 11.4 percent mainly because of the lower production of sand and gravel, limestone, shale clay and feldspar. Electricity and Water increased by 8.5 percent due to the good performance of power plants and water distributions. Meanwhile, food manufacturing, non-metallic products, and beverage production contributed much to the 8.4 percent rise in Manufacturing. Construction made an upswing from the negative growth in 1999, with its 2.7 percent climb in output due to increased private construction activities.

Aggregate Services, which shared 41.2 percent to the economy, increased by 5.4 percent in 2000, slightly higher than its 4.2 growth in 1999, with all the subsectors growing at a faster rate, except for Trade. Transportation, Communication and Storage (TCS) led the growth in this major sector as it expanded by 10.2 percent. Improvement in land and water transport services, combined with the advancement in communication pushed the overall growth in TCS. Trade followed with a 7.6 percent growth largely due to faster turnover of products in wholesale and retail trading activities. Private Services marked a 5.4 percent growth on account of increased medical, educational and personal services. On the other hand, Government Services made a turn around from its negative performance last year to a 3.2 percent growth. Similarly, because of the brisk activities in non-bank and insurance in the region, Finance services managed to expand by 2.2 percent. Meanwhile, the increase in the ownership of dwellings subsector contributed to the 1.6 growth of Ownership of Dwellings and Real Estate.

Ilocos Region recorded the highest growth among all regions followed closely by Southern Mindanao with a 6.1 percent growth. It also posted the highest growth in per capita GRDP at 4.8 percent. However, the region ranked 8^th in terms of its contribution to the total Philippine economy with a 3.2 percent share.

IRENEA B. UBUNGEN
Head, NSCB Regional Unit I

(GRDP 2000 details)