Cheers to Western Visayas after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that is the fastest growing region in the Visayas after its economy grew by 6.4 percent in 2019.
This makes the region’s economy faster than that of Central Visayas, which increased by 5.9 percent, and Eastern Visayas that grew by 5.3 percent.
The growth rate of the region leaped from 4.8 percent in 2018.
According to the PSA report, the total goods and services generated by Western Visayas were contributed by the growth in the agriculture and fishery sector at 0.1 percent, the industry sector at 1.3 percent, and the services sector at 5.0 percent.
The services sector, which accounted for 62.1 percent of the economy of the region, grew by 8.2 percent in 2019, the report added.
The top contributor to the growth in the services sector was accommodation and food service activities, which grew by 31.4 percent, a significant increase compared to the previous year with -10.5 percent.
The economy of Western Visayas was valued at P915.3 billion, making the region the fourth largest economy outside the National Capital Region.
While coronavirus has slowed down the economic activities in the region this year, businesses now are slowly opening up to revive the local economy.*