Philippines Unlikely to Meet 2028 Development Goals: PSA Report

The Philippines is unlikely to meet its end-of-plan (EOP) targets for economic growth, debt, and salaried workers under the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) by 2028, according to a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The 2025 Statistical Indicators on Philippine Development (StatDev) report indicated a low likelihood of achieving the EOP targets for gross domestic product (GDP) growth, outstanding national government debt, and the percentage of wage and salaried workers in private establishments. For GDP growth, the PSA stated there is a "low likelihood" of reaching the target rate of six to seven percent. The economy grew by a slower 4.4 percent last year, down from 5.7 percent in 2024. First-quarter growth this year was a mere 2.8 percent, the weakest in five years, dampened by a flood control scandal and high prices affecting consumer and investor confidence. The Development Budget Coordination Committee has already lowered the economic growth target to five to six percent for 2027-2030 due to domestic and global headwinds. Regarding the outstanding national government debt-to-GDP ratio, the pace of progress suggests a low likelihood of achieving the EOP target of 58 to 61 percent. Last year's ratio rose to 63.2 percent from 60.7 percent in 2024. Similarly, the percentage of wage and salaried workers in private establishments to total employed workers shows a low likelihood of meeting the EOP target of 53 to 55 percent. This figure slightly declined to 50 percent last year from 50.1 percent in 2024. Conversely, the country has a high likelihood of achieving EOP targets for the deficit-to-GDP ratio, food inflation, headline inflation, unemployment rate, underemployment rate, Global Innovation Index rank, and poverty incidence by 2028. On gross national income (GNI) per capita, the PSA reported a medium likelihood of attaining the EOP target of $5,882 to $6,081. GNI per capita rose to $4,850 last year from $4,470 in 2024, enabling the country to achieve upper-middle income status by World Bank classification. Overall, of the 534 indicators assessed across 14 development sectors in the PDP Mid-term Update, 322 indicators (60.3 percent) showed a medium or high likelihood of achieving EOP targets in 2028. Five sectors demonstrated strong progress: services, competition, justice, employment, and human and social development. Average progress was seen in science and technology, trade and investment, infrastructure, governance, agriculture and agribusiness, social protection, and the macroeconomy. The environment and industry sectors showed poor progress. Source: Philstar Business