While several economic indicators align with Marcos Jr.’s claim of an improved economy, some caveats indicate a slower growth compared with the previous year.
Claim: In his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. touted the Philippines’s improved economy, citing slower inflation and more job opportunities.
Rating: Needs Context
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. claimed in his fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday that the country has achieved economic growth with inflation easing and more employment opportunities generated.
“Kung datos lang ang pag-uusapan, maganda ang ating ekonomiya at tumaas ang kumpiyansa ng mga negosyante. Bumaba ang inflation [rate], dumami ang trabaho,” Marcos Jr. said before lawmakers and guests at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
According to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data, the country’s gross domestic product, or the total value of all goods and services produced in the country, rose year-on-year by 5.4% during the first quarter of 2025.
While this indicates that the economy is expanding, it grew slower than the 5.9% rate experienced in the same period last year, but was slightly quicker than the 5.3% in the final quarter of 2024.
Inflation, defined by PSA as the change in the cost of living based on movements in the prices of commodities, inched up to 1.4% from 1.3% in the last month, ending a four-month slowdown.
This brings the country’s average inflation in the first half of 2025 to 1.8%, well within the government’s target range of 2% to 4%. National Statistician Dennis Mapa said inflation could still remain below 2% for the rest of the year.
In terms of jobs, latest PSA data pegged the unemployment rate at 4.1% in April, up from 3.9% in March.
PSA said 48.67 million Filipinos were employed as of April 2025.
