Global growth and changing share in GDP

Last week the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released three important pieces of data: GDP performance in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, which was 5.5%; the infla-

- BIENVENIDO S. OPLAS, JR.

tion rate in July, which was 0.9%; and the unemployment rate in June, which was 3.7%.

The GDP growth of 5.5% was the third fastest among the top 50 largest economies in GDP size that have reported their Q2 data so far. This is next to Vietnam and Taiwan that both grew by 8%. India has yet to release its Q2 data and it will likely be higher than the Philippines’.

The inflation rate of 0.9% was a six-year low for the country, and similar to Singapore’s 0.8%. It was lower than Malaysia’s 1.1%, Taiwan’s 1.5%, South Korea and India’s 2.1%, Indonesia’s 2.4%, Vietnam’s 3.2%, and Japan’s 3.3%.

Our unemployment rate of 3.7% was similar to Hong Kong’s 3.5% and lower than Indonesia’s 4.8% (March, no June data is available yet), or China’s 5% and India’s 5.6%.

The government’s economic team deserves praise as they are able to sustain the growth momentum while keeping unemployment and inflation rates at low levels. I quote here from the press statements of three Cabinet Secretaries.