PH recession extended to Q1 2021 amid prolonged pandemic

People wearing masks shop for fresh food at a market in Manila on August 6, 2020. The Philippines plunged into recession as the economy reels from COVID-19 coronavirus lockdowns that have wrecked businesses and thrown millions out of work. (Photo by Lisa Marie David / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine economy shrank by a worse-than-expected 4.2 percent year-on-year during the first quarter, extending the pandemic-induced recession to five straight quarters, the longest since the Marcos-era debt crisis in the 1980s.

The government on Tuesday reported that the first-quarter outturn prolonged the preceding four quarters’ year-on-year declines in gross domestic product (GDP): 0.7 percent in the first quarter of 2020; the record 16.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020 amid the then most stringent COVID-19 lockdown in the region; 11.4 percent in the third quarter; and 8.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

The government targets 6.5-7.5 percent GDP growth this year to rebound from the record 9.6-percent full-year GDP drop in 2020—the Philippines’ worst post-war recession.

National Statistician Dennis Mapa said the agriculture, industry and services sectors all contracted year-on-year during the first three months.

EDV