Empowering middle-income states

Spanning across all regions of the world — from Latin America to Africa, from Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia and the Pacific — middle-income countries (MICs) constitute over 100 countries, hosting 75% of the world's population and producing 35% of global GDP. Many MICs are in Asia.

- Enrique A. Manalo

The Philippines is among these middle-income countries which all seek to improve the standards of living of their peoples and achieve more sustainable and inclusive development. With a relatively high growth rate, it has been projected that the Philippines will attain upper-middle-income status by 2026.

However, like many MICs, the Philippines confronts special challenges. We are one of the world's most disaster-prone countries and must manage limited resources to alleviate poverty, enhance food security, and build resilience. In this regard, our development trajectory is defined by both promise and vulnerability — characteristics shared by most, if not all, middle-income countries.

With their tracks sometimes challenged by political and economic shocks, MICs can experience economic slowdowns that can cause them to get stuck in "the middle-income trap". Inequality, unemployment, biodiversity loss, reliance on primary commodity exports, rising risks of debt distress, volatility of exchange rates, and the digital divide, among others, are some of the challenges that constrain MICs.