Western Visayas posts 8.4% economic growth

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The economy of Western Visayas posted an accelerated growth of 8.4 percent in 2017, the Philippine Statistics Office (PSA)-Region 6 reported.

Fred Sollesta, PSA-6 regional director, the region's growth rate is higher than the country's 6.7 percent rate, and an increase from the region’s 5.9 percent the previous year. This growth is attributed to the recovery of the agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing (AHFF) sector, he said.

The report also bared the service sector had contributed well to the region's economic growth, despite the slowdown in the industry sector.

The AHFF sector leaped from negative 1.8 percent in 2016 to 8.8 percent in 2017, while the service sector increased from 6.7 percent in 2016 to 8.2 percent last year. However, the industry sector, which recorded a 10.6 percent growth in 2016, slowed down to 8.8 percent in 2017.

Western Visayas is one of the 12 regions in the country which is predominantly service-based, which among the four sectors, continued to account for the largest share of the region’s economy at 57.3 percent.