ILOILO – This province’s economic engine slowed in 2024 as the agriculture sector suffered massive losses from drought and disease outbreaks, dragging down overall growth to just 1.4 percent — its weakest performance in years — despite steady gains in services and industry.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the province’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose from P215.78 billion in 2023 to P218.86 billion in 2024, a modest increase attributed mainly to growth in non-agricultural sectors.
“The growth represents an increase in its gross domestic product from P215.78 billion in 2023 to P218.86 billion in 2024,” said Iloilo Supervising Statistical Specialist Jerry Dolutan during the Provincial Product Accounts dissemination forum on Tuesday.
Among major industries, services accounted for the lion’s share of Iloilo’s economy at 59.76 percent, followed by industry at 21.3 percent and agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) at 19 percent. However, the AFF sector’s negative 15.9 percent growth offset the progress made by 15 other subsectors that posted positive performance.
Despite the slowdown, Iloilo remained the largest economy in Western Visayas, contributing 34.1 percent to the region’s total economic output.
Dolutan underscored the importance of the Provincial Product Accounts (PPA) in crafting responsive policies:
“This is for an evidence-based decision-making,” he said. “Our PPA is a mechanism to compile the gross domestic product or GDP, using our production approach at the sub-regional, or provincial, or highly urbanized city level. Our GDP measures the value of all the primary goods and services produced in the province in a given time.”
Agricultural woes
Statistician Sol Jane Capague said the agricultural sector’s steep decline, which started in 2022, worsened in 2024 due to prolonged dry spells, animal disease outbreaks, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities.
“The massive crop damage, intense, and the prolonged dry spell, particularly in 2024, resulted in agricultural losses exceeding P1 billion for the province,” she said.
Capague warned that when agriculture falters, it sends a ripple effect across the regional economy, even if services and industry continue to grow.
“Once agriculture pulls down the province’s economy, it will also impact the economy of the whole region,” she added.
While the figures suggest resilience in Iloilo’s service-driven sectors, the province’s heavy dependence on agriculture remains its Achilles’ heel — highlighting the urgent need for climate-adaptive measures, irrigation investments, and stricter enforcement against illegal fishing to prevent another economic slowdown./PN
