Philippines, Thailand boost Asean growth in first half of 2013
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The strong showing of the Philippine economy, along with that of Thailand, helped raise the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the 10 members of Asean.
Collectively, the Asean’s GDP grew by 5.7 per cent in the first half of the year.
The so-called Asean-5, as a sub-group, grew by 5.1 per cent from January to June, faster than the 4.9 per cent recorded in the previous year.
Asean-5 is composed of founding members the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
According to the Jakarta-based Asean Secretariat, the services sector over the last seven years has become a catalyst for regional economic growth, while the agriculture sector has decreased its impact on GDP.
In 2012, the services sector contributed the highest share to GDP in Asean countries, ranging from 35 per cent to more than 60 per cent of GDP.
In the Philippines, the services sector accounts for 56.9 per cent of the economy, second only to 61.8 per cent in Singapore.
“The share of the services sector continues to increase considerably in the region,” the secretariat said. “The Asean economies have found their niche in the services sector after deliberately moving away from agriculture over the last five years.”
Last year, Asean economies remained buoyant as aggregate nominal GDP grew by 5.7 per cent to reach $2.31 trillion (Bt71.73 trillion).
The Asean Secretariat cited as a growth indicator the 4.4-per-cent growth in the region’s GDP per capita, to $3,751 in 2012, from $3,591 in 2011.
GDP per capita, the average income of people in an economy, was $4,339 for the Philippines, lower than the Asean-5 average of $7,010.
The Philippines is classified as an upper middle-income economy, along with Thailand and Indonesia.
Singapore, Brunei and Malaysia are the richest in the region with GDP per capita of $61,461, $55,405, and $16,976, respectively.
In terms of real GDP, regional growth was recorded at 5.7 per cent, or almost six times as fast as the one per cent recorded in 2011.
The Philippines performed the best among the Asean-5 at 6.8 per cent, while Thailand posted 6.5 per cent.
However, both figures were slower than the 7.9 per cent seen for Laos, and 7 per cent for Cambodia.
