The Philippines scored below the regional average in the World Bank’s latest Human Capital Index Plus (HCI+), underscoring persistent gaps in health, education, and employment outcomes despite outperforming the average for lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).

In an April 2026 human capital country brief published last week, the World Bank said the Philippines posted an HCI+ score of 175 out of a maximum of 325—lower than the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region’s average of 215 but higher than LMICs’ average of 153.

According to the World Bank, HCI+ measures the human capital that a child born today can expect to accumulate over a working life. HCI+ expands the original HCI by incorporating tertiary education as well as work experience alongside health and basic education.

The World Bank said that a 10-point increase in the Philippines’ HCI+ score would translate into about a tenth higher future income, while closing the current gaps relative to high-performing countries with similar gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would raise future income by two-fifths.

Across all three HCI+ pillars, the Philippines posted scores below EAP’s regional average.

The country scored 40 for health, lower than the region’s average of 45; 98 for education, compared with the regional average of 124; and 37 for employment, below EAP’s average of 46.

For comparison, the World Bank noted that Philippines lagged behind neighboring Vietnam, whose HCI+ score stood at 216, leaving a 41-point gap between the two Southeast Asian countries.

The World Bank attributed most of the Philippines’ HCI+ gap with Vietnam to education, which accounted for 24 points, followed by employment at 13 points, and health at three points.

Among the specific indicators, the largest contributors to the Philippines’ HCI+ deficit relative to Vietnam were harmonized learning outcomes (HLO), adult share at work, and expected years of schooling.

Raising these indicators to Vietnam’s levels would increase the Philippines’ HCI+ score to 219 and boost future income by around 43.6 percent, according to the World Bank.

The Philippine brief also showed that Vietnam outperformed across several underlying indicators.

In health, the Philippines recorded an 82-percent probability of survival to age 60 versus Vietnam’s 87 percent, while the probability of no stunting was 76 percent compared with 81 percent. Stunted children are smaller in height compared to healthier same-aged kids.

In education, expected years of schooling stood at 11 years in the Philippines, slightly below Vietnam’s 11.9 years. The Philippines also posted substantially lower HLO at 365, compared with Vietnam’s 485, even as it exceeded Vietnam in tertiary completion, at 33 percent versus 20 percent.

Some employment indicators likewise favored Vietnam. The Philippines recorded a youth share at work of 44 percent compared with Vietnam’s 65 percent and an adult share at work of 74 percent versus 87 percent. However, the Philippines posted a slightly higher youth in wage employment of 68 percent, compared with Vietnam’s 64 percent, and a higher adults in wage employment of 67 percent versus 52 percent.

Also, the World Bank pointed to a six-point gender gap in human capital accumulation in the Philippines.

World Bank data showed that Filipino women registered an HCI+ score of 172, compared with 178 for Filipino men, indicating that women’s earning potential would be six percent lower than men’s because of differences in the human capital acquired by men and women in the country.