January 26, 2023

Philippines' agriculture production down for third straight year in 2022

The Philippines' agricultural output remained in negative territory for the third straight year in 2022 as production contracted in three out of the four quarters of last year, government data released on January 25 revealed.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the value of production in agriculture and fisheries contracted by 1.0% in the fourth quarter of the year, attributed to the reduction in the crops and fisheries.

Production of crops fell by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, with the biggest declines seen in corn production which fell by 6.9%.

Fisheries production, meanwhile, contracted by 6.6%, with double-digit drops recorded in bigeye tuna down 43.7%, mudcrab down 37.0%, slipmouth down 34.3%, cavalla down 34.2%, grouper down 26.3%, tiger prawn down 14.6%, and skipjack down 14.4%.

Livestock production increased by 2.5%, as hog and dairy production offset the declines recorded in cattle, carabao and goat production in the last three months of the year. Meanwhile, poultry production increased 1.8%, with the production of duck and duck eggs both up by 4.3%, chicken by 2.3%, and chicken eggs by 0.2%.

The full-year value of production in agriculture and fisheries was down by 0.1% in 2022, marking the third straight year of contraction after the -1.7% in 2021 and -1.2% in 2020.

For 2022, the production of crops declined by 1.0% and fisheries by 6.6%, while the production of livestock increased by 2.5% and poultry by 1.8%.

— KBK / GMA Integrated News