PHL cuts export targets as global risks deepen

THE PHILIPPINES has sharply lowered its export targets for this year until 2028 amid geopolitical tensions, renewed trade barriers, and persistent disruptions in major shipping routes that continue to squeeze global supply chains and dampen demand.

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Under the revised Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP), exports are now expected to reach $110.8 billion to $113.4 billion this year, $116.1 billion to $120.2 billion in 2026, $123.3 billion to $1274 billion in 2027, and $132.8 billion to $135.1 billion in 2028, the Export Development Council (EDC) said on Thursday.

These are all substantially below the earlier projections of $163.6 billion, $186.7 billion, $212.1 billion, and $240.5 billion for those respective years. For 2025, the EDC now forecasts export growth of about 3.55% from the original 14.1%.

“The rate of growth has decelerated in the last two years, so we have to adjust,” EDC Executive Director Bianca Pearl R. Sykimte said at the National Export Congress, She cited mounting global headwinds — rising political tensions, uncertainty surrounding US tariff policies and bottlenecks along key shipping routes — as the main reasons for the reset.