Ocean-based industries grew by 21.1 percent last year and accounted for about almost 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. In a report released on Tuesday, the PSA said the ocean economy posted a gross value added of PHP857.74 billion last year, up from the PHP708.10 billion in 2021. "It accounted for 3.9 percent of the gross domestic product at current prices in 2022," it said. The PSA said industries which recorded the highest growth include coastal accommodation and food and beverage services activities (248.3 percent), coastal recreation (161.7 percent) and offshore and coastal mining and quarrying (56.3 percent). Among the industries, ocean fishing accounted for the largest share of 31.5 percent of the total ocean economy. This was followed by manufacture of ocean-based products (21.6 percent), sea-based transportation and storage (14.6 percent), and ocean-based power generation, transmission and distribution (11.3 percent). PSA data showed that the number of persons employed in ocean-based industries was 2.23 million in 2022, up by 10.9 percent from the 2.01 million persons employed in 2021. "This accounted for 4.7 percent of the total employment in the country in 2022," the PSA said. Ocean fishing accounted for 51.4 percent of the total ocean-based employment.
Source: Philippines News Agency
