WV is 4th largest contributor to national GDP
Western Visayas is considered the fourth fastest growing region and the fourth largest contributor to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) among the 17 regions of the country.
A press release from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that Western Visayas’ 2008 Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) surpassed the national GDP by 0.6 percentage points.
Agriculture, fishery and forestry (AFF) shared 24.63% of the total GRDP with Agriculture and Fishery contributing 99.99% to total AFF sector.
The NSCB said the impressive growth of AFF was largely pushed by the good turn out of the major crops, the top contributors of which are sugarcane, corn and palay. The performance of the major crops is attributed to both increases in volume of production and expansion in area planted and harvested in 2008.
Based on NSCB data, during the year sugarcane plantation expanded by 0.12% and volume of production increased by 19.79%. On the other hand, hectarage planted to corn also expanded by 8.78% and production increased by 11.37%. Similarly, the area planted to palay swelled by 7.41%, and volume of produce increased by 6.28%. Other agricultural crops with notable performances in 2008 included coconut, banana, cassava, and mango, in that order.