While the Philippine digital economy expanded to ₱2.25 trillion in 2024, it grew by only 7.6 percent, marking its slowest growth in four years after contracting during the pandemic.

Of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the share of the digital economy also shrank slightly to 8.5 percent in 2024 from 8.6 percent in the previous year. It was also the year that the digital economy’s share to the overall GDP was the lowest. 

Its share during the pandemic was among the highest at 8.9 percent in 2020 and 9.2 percent in 2021.

The digital economy covers online transactions across four main areas: digital infrastructure, digital content and media, e-commerce, and government digital services.

Digital-enabling infrastructure made up the biggest share of the digital economy in 2024, contributing ₱1.88 trillion or nearly 84 percent. 

Leading industries in this segment were professional and business support services at nearly 33 percent; telecommunications at 24 percent; and ICT manufacturing at over 16 percent. The other components contributed as follows: e-commerce at nearly 14 percent; digital content and media at over two percent; and government digital services at 0.3 percent.

Last year, the digital economy employed 11.30 million workers, a nearly five-percent increase from 10.78 million in 2023, accounting for over 23 percent of the country’s total workforce.

E-commerce accounted for the largest share of jobs in the digital economy at nearly 78 percent, followed by digital-enabling infrastructure at over 21 percent, digital content and media at nearly one percent, and government digital services at 0.1 percent.

On the sidelines of the second day of the high-level conference for middle-income countries on April 29, National Socioeconomic Planner Aresnion Balisacan told reporters that he expects the  digital economy to expand further given that it is still at an early stage. 

Balisacan said that more impact will be felt especially when the private sector ramps up its efforts. He noted that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) already gathers a lot of data through the national ID system, but many practical uses for it are still being developed.

“Once it is developed, it can spur growth in new industry or even existing industries. So we expect a lot of that,” Balisacan said.

According to the head of the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), digitalization is included in the government’s long-term priorities.  

“And it is a top thrust of our government — digitalizing not just in the public sector but also the way the private sector deals with government. That’s why there’s a strong push for digitalization.”

Citing these efforts, Baliscan said that the government expects the digital economy “to be on an uptrend. Especially that we’re starting from a low base compared to our neighbors.”