CEBU CITY – The province of Bohol’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

Citing the PSA report, the Provincial Product Accounts (PPAs) disclosed that the province recorded a 6.6 percent annual growth in GDP which was higher than the national average of 5.5 percent. 

Jessamyn Anne Alcazaren, chief statistical specialist of PSA-Bohol, noted that all industries of Bohol achieved positive growth, with industry at 9.7 percent and services at six percent.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing recovered from a negative growth in 2022 of -9.4 to a positive growth in 2023 of 7.1 percent.

Bohol had a P182.41 billion GDP for 2023, Alcazaren said.

Major contributors in the province’s increased GDP were construction, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation, and storage.

The top three fastest growing industries were other services at 31.1 percent, accommodation and food service activities at 27.9 percent, and transportation and storage at 20.4 percent.

With these figures, Bohol's economy looks to be even more progressive in 2024 and onwards, John Titus Vistal, Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) coordinator, said.

Vistal underscored the strategic governance roadmap, under the leadership of Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado, which agreed on the goal of Bohol as a smart-resilient province, advancing climate-smart agriculture and sustainable tourism.

Meanwhile, Provincial Administrator Asteria Caberte is positive that Bohol, along with Cebu, will soar high in the national accounts, as far as regional growth is concerned.

In an open forum on Nov. 28, Caberte explained that the regional productivity of Cebu and Bohol is at 86 percent, relative to the establishment of the Negros Island Region.