By Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores
MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippine economy expanded a lower than expected 5.2% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday, weighed down by weaker consumption and weather disruption that squeezed farm output.
The reading matched the previous quarter’s 5.2% expansion but was below the median forecast of 5.4% growth in a Reuters poll of economists.
Philippine stocks fell as much as 0.3% after the data, their lowest level since mid-November 2023.
On a quarterly basis, the Philippines grew a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in the October-December quarter, data from Philippines Statistics Authority showed, below the 1.9% forecast in the poll.
The fourth quarter growth brought full-year expansion in 2024 to 5.6%, below the government’s 6.0% to 6.5% growth target for the year.
“We faced numerous setbacks like extreme weather events, geopolitical tensions, and subdued global demand,” Economic Planning Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon told a media briefing.
“The agriculture sector faced significant setbacks due to typhoons and droughts and other climate related disruptions,” she added.
Farm output in the last quarter shrank 2.2%, a third successive quarterly contraction, although the pace of decline slowed, with reduced crops, livestock and fish production, the agency said on Tuesday.
Household consumption grew 4.7% in the fourth quarter, slower than the prior quarter’s 5.2% growth, offsetting the impact of the 9.7% increase in government consumption, which was higher than the previous quarter’s 5% expansion.
Last month, the government widened its growth target for 2025-2028 to a range of 6.0% to 8.0%, from 6.5% to 7.5% for 2025 and 6.5% to 8.0% in 2026-2028 to account for what it said were evolving global uncertainties.
Edillon said the government is confident of hitting the low end of this-year’s growth target.
(Reporting by Karen Lema and Mikhail Flores; Editing by Martin Petty and Kate Mayberry)
