The ocean and the beach in the Philippines

Philippines Imports

Philippines Imports

Imports in Philippines

The economy of the Philippines recorded an average growth rate of 8.8% in the decade to 2022. In 2022, the growth rate was 13.9%. For more imports information, visit our dedicated page.

Philippines Imports Chart

Note: This chart displays Imports (G&S, ann. var. %) for Philippines from 2014 to 2023.
Source: Macrobond.

Philippines Imports Data

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Imports (G&S, ann. var. %) 2.3 -21.6 12.8 14.0 1.0

Economic growth edges up in Q1, but fails to meet expectations

According to a preliminary estimate, annual GDP growth gathered pace to 5.7% in the first quarter, up from 5.5% in the fourth quarter of last year but falling short of market expectations. On a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis, economic growth moderated to 1.3% in Q1, compared to the previous quarter's 1.8% expansion.

The acceleration stemmed from rebounds in public spending and net exports of goods and services. Government consumption bounced back, growing 1.7% in Q1 (Q4 2023: -1.0% yoy). Less positively, other subcomponents of domestic demand felt the pinch of inflationary pressures and elevated interest rates, marking the weakest expansions since Q1 2021: Private consumption growth fell to 4.6% in Q1 (Q4 2023: +5.3% yoy), and fixed investment growth fell to 2.3% in Q1 (Q4 2023: +10.2% yoy). On the external front, exports of goods and services rebounded, growing 7.5% year on year in the first quarter, largely thanks to a recovery in the global electronics sector (Q4 2023: -2.5% yoy). Meanwhile, imports of goods and services growth accelerated moderately to 2.3% in Q1 (Q4 2023: +2.0% yoy).

Annual GDP growth is set to accelerate in Q2, but will then likely cool in the second half of 2024. With inflation set to average above its January–March level and the Bangko Sentral Pilipinas (BSP) on track to lower interest rates only toward year-end, household spending and investment will remain under pressure. Our panelists expect public consumption to drive momentum in the remainder of the year, as the government raised the fiscal deficit ceiling in April. Meanwhile, the global tech sector upturn should support export growth.

United Overseas Bank analysts Julia Goh and Loke Siew Ting commented on their forecast revision: “We downgrade our [2024] Philippines’ growth forecast […] after taking into account the 1Q24 GDP outturn, the persistence of extreme weather conditions in the country and an expected delay in BSP rate cuts. [...] The persistence of high inflationary pressures and restrictive monetary policy settings will further weigh on household consumption and investment over the next few quarters. Nevertheless, a continued recovery in external sector and government spending will be the key impetuses to the domestic growth prospects in the near term.” Nomura analysts Euben Paracuelles and Nabila Amani said: "We maintain our 2024 GDP growth forecast of 6.0% y-o-y, up from 5.5% in 2023, with public investment spending still likely the main growth engine. […] We believe the government continues to push for more progress in public infrastructure projects, supporting our forecast for higher average GDP growth of 6.2% over the rest of the year, although the trajectory could be relatively bumpy.”

Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Philippine imports projections for the next ten years from a panel of 13 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable imports forecast available for Philippine imports.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Philippine imports projections.

Want to get access to the full dataset of Philippine imports forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.

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