The Philippines: US$2.45bn tourism trade surplus in 2023

The country generated more than US$100bn in the export of goods and services in 2023.

The Philippines.- The Department of Tourism (DOT) has announced that the Philippines recorded a net trade surplus of US$2.45bn in 2023 after surpassing US$100bn in exports of goods and services. The DOT noted that export receipts had doubled since 2022, reaching US$9.1bn and accounting for 93.2 per cent of the 2019 levels.

Authorities noted that travel services constituted “an impressive 18.9 per cent share of the country’s total service exports amounting to US$48.28bn.”According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP), the growth of service exports was attributed to the strong performance of the IT-BPM sectors and a turnaround in tourism revenues.

Tourism secretary Christina Frasco emphasised the collective efforts of stakeholders in establishing the Philippines as a tourism powerhouse. She reaffirmed the DOT’s commitment to advancing tourism as a key economic pillar and highlighted ongoing initiatives in the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) 2023 to 2028.

For 2024, the Philippines aims to attract 7.7 million arrivals. Last year, it received 5.45 million international visitors.