Tacloban: The Eastern Visayas economy demonstrated resilience with a 6.2 percent growth in 2024, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Tuesday.

According to Philippines News Agency, during a press briefing held at the Summit Hotel, PSA-Eastern Visayas Regional chief statistical specialist Mae Almonte attributed the growth primarily to the positive contributions of the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors; the industry sector; and the services sector. While slightly below the previous year's performance, this marks the fourth consecutive year the region has maintained an economic growth rate of 6 percent or higher.

Last year's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth of 6.2 percent follows rates of 6.3 percent in 2023, 6.4 percent in 2022, 6.7 percent in 2021, and a pre-pandemic level of 5.3 percent in 2019. "The total value of goods and services produced in the region, as indicated by the GRDP, increased to PHP555.6 billion in 2024 from PHP523.56 billion in 2023, representing an economic gain of PHP32.06 billion," Almonte said.

The PSA stated the services sector, which constitutes the largest share of the regional economy at 48.1 percent, expanded by 7.1 percent in 2024, showing a slight deceleration from the 7.3 percent growth in the preceding year. The industry sector, contributing 40.2 percent to the regional economy, grew by 5.7 percent, also slightly lower than the 5.8 percent growth recorded in 2023.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Meylene Rosales highlighted that the region's 6.2 percent growth positions it as the sixth fastest-growing regional economy nationwide. "Although this figure is marginally below our 2023 performance by 0.1 percentage point and the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan target of 6.5-7.5 percent, it signifies our fourth consecutive year of achieving at least 6.0 percent growth," Rosales told reporters.

She added the region's growth surpassed the national average of 5.7 percent for the past year. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) sector maintained a steady 4 percent growth rate for the second consecutive year. However, the AFF sector's share of the GRDP is the smallest among the three primary economic drivers in the region, accounting for only 11.7 percent.

The GRDP serves as a key indicator, measuring the total value of goods and services produced within a region. The sum of all regional GRDP figures constitutes the gross domestic product of the entire country.