Central Visayas led regional growth in 2023at 7.2%, says PSA

All 17 regions in the Philippines expanded in 2023, with Central Visayas leading the pack at 7.2-percent growth, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.Western Visayas followed closely at 7.2 percent, while the Ilocos Region came in third at 7.0 percent. These top three regions outperformed the national growth rate of 5.5 percent last year.Five other regions exceeded the national average: the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) at 6.9 percent, Davao Region at 6.7 percent, Eastern Visayas at 6.4 percent, Cagayan Valley at 6.2 percent and Central Luzon at 6.1 percent.Data from the PSA showed the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.5 percent in 2023, a slowdown from the 7.6-percent expansion in 2022.All 16 major industries recorded positive growth.The strongest growth came from the accommodation and food service activities sector (23.2 percent), followed by other services (20.8 percent) and transportation and storage (13.0 percent).The National Capital Region (NCR) held the biggest share of the services sector at 41.4 percent, followed by CALABARZON (10.8 percent) and Central Luzon (8.3 percent).The PSA said that in terms of contribution by region to total industry, CALABARZON led at 25.0 percent, followed by NCR (18.6 percent) and Central Luzon (16.0 percent).Central Luzon held the top share with 13.9 percent in agriculture, forestry and fishing, with Northern Mindanao and Western Visayas following at 10.4 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.Household spending grew in all regions last year, with the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) registering the highest increase at 7.5 percent. CALABARZON followed at 6.0 percent, and Central Visayas came in third at 5.9 percent.