THE country's creative economy ballooned to P1.60 trillion last year and contributed around 7.3 percent to gross domestic product, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.
Year on year, the sector grew by 12.1 percent from P1.43 trillion in 2021.
The creative economy includes audio and audiovisual media; digital interactive goods and services; advertising, research and development, and other artistic services; symbols and images, and other related activities; media publishing and printing; music, arts and entertainment; visual arts; traditional cultural expression; and art galleries, museums, ballrooms, conventions and trade shows, and related activities.
Symbols and images, and other related activities accounted for the biggest share of the creative economy at 32.9 percent or P528.35 billion. This was 10 percent higher than the P480.41 seen a year earlier.
Advertising, research and development, and other artistic services contributed followed with a 20.8-percent share or P333.9 million, while digital interactive goods and services comprised 20.3 percent or P325.4 million
A total of 6.98 million Filipinos worked in creative industries last year, 10.5 percent higher than the 6.32 million recorded in 2021.
Employment in traditional cultural expression activities had the highest share of 42.5 percent, followed by symbols and images, and other related activities (24.8 percent) and advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities (18.0 percent).
The economy grew by 7.6 percent in 2022, slightly surpassing the government's 6.5- to 7.5-percent target. A slowdown to 6.0-7.0 percent is expected this year given risks from stubborn inflation and global headwinds.
Data regarding the creative economy came from a pilot study and thus remains preliminary, the PSA said. Methodologies are still being refined but plans are being made to institutionalize regular data releases, it added.
Source: ManilaTimes
March 24, 2023
