Guimaras economy grows 8%, ranks seventh nationwide

Guimaras’ economy expanded 8% in 2025, making it the third-fastest growing economy in Western Visayas and seventh among 82 provinces and 33 highly urbanized cities nationwide, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Chief Statistical Specialist Nelida B. Losare presented the figures during the 2025 Provincial Product Accounts Dissemination Forum on Oct. 13 at Pitstop Hotel in Alaguisoc, Jordan.

The province’s gross domestic product, measured at constant 2018 prices, reached PHP 19.62 billion in 2025, up from PHP 18.17 billion in 2024 and PHP 17.46 billion in 2023.

“The growth rate accelerated from 4.1 percent in 2024, an increase of 3.9 percentage points,” Losare said.

The strong headline growth gives Guimaras an opportunity to raise household incomes and deepen local economic activity, but the underlying figures show an economy still heavily dependent on agriculture and services, with manufacturing contracting and labor force participation trailing both regional and national levels.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing, or AFF, provided the biggest contribution to the province’s growth at 2.5 percentage points, followed by wholesale and retail trade, including repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, at 1.5 percentage points.

Public administration and defense, including compulsory social security, contributed another 1.1 percentage points.

Services remained the largest sector of the Guimaras economy in 2025, accounting for 56.8% of GDP, while AFF contributed 28.3% and industry accounted for the remaining 14.9%.

Human health and social work activities posted the fastest growth among individual industries at 15.1%, followed closely by public administration and defense, including compulsory social security, at 14.8%.

Financial and insurance activities expanded 10.1%, information and communication grew 10%, and education increased 9.4%.

AFF itself grew 9%, while real estate and ownership of dwellings expanded 8.9% and wholesale and retail trade rose 8.7%.

The expansion was not broad-based, however, as mining and quarrying contracted 8.9% and manufacturing declined 0.9%.

Accommodation and food service activities, a sector closely linked to tourism and visitor spending, grew by only 1.4%, pointing to slower momentum in an industry with potential to broaden the province’s economic base.

Per capita GDP, which measures economic output relative to population and is not the same as average household income, increased 7% to PHP 100,147.

Elaine Grace B. Fernandez, senior economic development specialist of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development Regional Office VI, said Guimaras’ rapid expansion must be viewed together with the structure of its economy and the condition of its labor market.

Fernandez described the province’s performance as fast growth built on a relatively narrow economic base, noting that AFF posted a location quotient of 1.99, nearly twice the regional benchmark of 1.00.

The figure underscores how strongly Guimaras specializes in agriculture, forestry and fishing compared with the broader Western Visayas economy.

Production data presented during the forum reinforced that dependence, with livestock volume rising 26.3% in 2025 and fisheries production increasing 21.7%.

Crop production, including palay and corn, moved in the opposite direction and declined slightly by 0.5%.

Fernandez stressed that rising production does not automatically translate into higher earnings for farmers and fishers if producers remain concentrated at the lower end of the value chain.

“Post-harvest facilities, cold-chain systems, processing and stronger market links are needed to help producers capture more value from their output,” she said.

She also recommended assessing small-scale agro-processing opportunities linked to local agricultural production, particularly given the 0.9% contraction in manufacturing.

Developing processing activities could allow more of the value created from Guimaras’ farm and fisheries output to remain within the province rather than being captured elsewhere along the supply chain.

Fernandez also highlighted labor force participation as another area requiring attention despite Guimaras’ strong employment indicators.

Preliminary data from the PSA Annual Labor Force Survey showed the province posted a labor force participation rate of 61.2% in 2025, below Western Visayas’ 64% and the national rate of 64.1%.

Among those who were in the labor force, however, Guimaras recorded an employment rate of 97.1%, higher than the regional rate of 96.1% and the national rate of 95.8%.

Its unemployment rate stood at 2.9%, compared with 3.9% in Western Visayas and 4.2% nationwide.

Underemployment was also relatively low at 7.8%, against 17.2% across the region and 11.9% nationally.

The figures nevertheless showed that around 52,500 people aged 15 and older were outside the labor force, while about 2,400 were unemployed.

Fernandez recommended breaking down labor data by sex and age to identify which groups face barriers to entering or remaining in the workforce.

She outlined six priority areas for provincial planning: adding value to agricultural output, widening the services base, reviewing tourism-linked services, assessing agro-processing opportunities, raising labor force participation and monitoring price movements.

The proposed measures include strengthening agricultural processing and market access, expanding trade and other service industries, and determining why accommodation and food service activities grew relatively slowly despite Guimaras’ tourism potential.

The presentation also called for closer monitoring of transportation, rice, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel prices because increases in these basic costs can erode household purchasing power even when the wider economy is expanding.

Guimaras’ 8% growth gives the province a strong platform for further development, but sustaining that momentum will depend on whether economic gains translate into higher incomes, stronger local industries and more opportunities for residents to participate in the economy.

For provincial planners, the bigger test is not simply keeping growth high but ensuring that farmers and fishers capture more value from what they produce, tourism and services contribute more meaningfully, and the benefits of expansion reach a broader share of Guimaras households.