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ILOCOS REGION'S GRDP REGISTERS 2.8 PERCENT
GROWTH IN 1998

Ilocos Region's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) registered a low 2.8 percent growth in 1998 compared with the 7.0 percent growth registered in 1997. The GRDP is an aggregate measure of the goods and services produced by the regional economy. The region's growth rate ranked second highest in 1998 among the regions in the country. Ilocos Region's per capita GRDP increased by 0.9 percent in 1998.It is the second among two regions which posted positive growths in per capita GRDP. 

The Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (AFF) Sector, which contributed 39.5 percent to the region's GRDP, caused the deceleration in the region's economic performance as it declined by 4.8 percent during the period. This was brought about by the decreased production of major crops, commercial fish and aquaculture which were badly affected by the El Nino phenomenon and the typhoons that visited the region during the latter part of 1998.

The Industry Sector, on the other hand, expanded by 18.0 percent, an improvement from its 11.7 percent growth in 1997. This was due to the hefty increase in the construction subsector which was posted at 43.8 percent. The increased private non-residential and public construction activities contributed to the sector's performance. The very good performance of the construction sector managed to offset the decline in the mining and quarrying, and manufacturing subsectors which registered 33.6 percent and 7.4 percent contractions, respectively. In addition, the electricity and water subsector which grew by 6.2 percent, though a deceleration from its 6.7 percent level in 1997, contributed to the Industry Sector's positive growth.

Meanwhile, the Service Sector, the biggest contributor to the region's total domestic product in 1998 with a 40.9 percent share, grew at 4.3 percent, lower than the 6.1 percent growth registered in the previous year. This was due to the deceleration in all the services subsectors. Finance subsector experienced the highest decrease in growth at 5.5 percentage points followed by the government services subsector with a decrease of 2.1 percentage points in growth. Likewise, the slowdown in the air and land transport services in the region brought about the deceleration in the transport, communication and storage subsector. The trade subsector, which managed to grow at 6.1 percent, contributed the biggest share of 13.5 percent to the Service Sector's total production.

IRENEA B. UBUNGEN
Head, NSCB Regional Unit I