The number of Filipinos employed in the water sector has risen, driven by improving wages and the expansion of establishments in water collection, treatment, and supply, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

Based on the 2022 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI), the water sector has outpaced growth in other areas, such as sewerage, waste management, and remediation activities.

“Among industry groups, water collection, treatment and supply recorded the highest number of 1,041 establishments or 86.8 percent of the total for the section in 2022,” PSA said.

Total employment that year increased by 6.6 percent, from 40,717 workers to 43,386. PSA stated that this growth has made the sector the top industry in terms of job creation.

In 2022, a total of 36,890 employees were hired, accounting for 85 percent of overall employment across other sectors.

Aside from labor, employees in the water sector reported an average annual wage of P470,180 each.

“It was also the only industry group that paid average annual compensation higher than the national average,” PSA said.

In terms of total revenue, water collection, treatment, and supply remained its largest share of total revenues at P121.16 billion or 86.4 percent and was also noted as the industry with the highest spending at P101.96 billion or 87 percent among the other groups.

On the other hand, remediation activities, which are mitigation actions against environmental contamination and damage as well as waste management ranked the lowest in the number of establishments and workers in 2022.

The waste collection sector also paid its employees the lowest among the other groups at P184,500 thousand per person.

That same year, remediation and waste management services had the least number of revenues at P0.13 billion.