January 28th local time, according to the latest economic data released by the Philippine National Bureau of Statistic
Affected by the coronavirus epidemic, the Philippine economy contracted more than expected in the fourth quarter of 2020, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 8.3% year-on-year, while the annual GDP fell by 9.5%.
This is the first contraction since the Asian financial crisis in 1998 caused a decline of 0.5%.
Meanwhile, the GDP contraction in 2020 was worse than the 7% contraction recorded in 1984, making it the Philippines’s worst recession after World War II.
In contrast, the Philippines grew GDP by 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019, with a full-year growth rate of 6%.
In addition, according to available data, the Philippine economy contracted 16.9% and 11.4% respectively in the second and third quarters of 2020, which is the worst two quarters of the whole year.
