Department of Trade and Industry
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AUTHORITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
FIRST QUARTER 2011 CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
IMPACT ON THE PHILIPPINE ECONOMY
With the slowdown in global trade, the Philippine economy grew modestly by 3.6% during the first quarter of 2011. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted a lower growth of 4.9% and was backed by the lackluster performance of the industry sector (7.2%), recovery of the agricultural sector (4.2%) and services sector (3.7%).
Propelling the industry sector were the strong performances of manufacturing at 8.6%, construction at 4.0%, mining and quarrying at 18.6% growth.
Construction also accounted for 31.9% of capital investments or Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in the country.
Domestic employment increased by 0.8% with a total of 36.29 million workers compared to the 36.00 million workforce in the same period in 2010. The average construction employment in the first quarter of 2011 grew by 1.7%.
Despite the political crisis in the Middle East and North Africa, foreign exchange earnings from construction amounted to US$ 17.523 Million in the first three months of 2011, a 72.6% increase from US$ 10.151 Million in the same period of 2010. Such increase reflected the late remittances of the 4th quarter of 2010.
SELECTED MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
In 2000 Billion Pesos
(First Quarter 2009, 2010 & 2011)
2009
2010
2011
GROWTH RATES
(In Percent)
2009-10
2010-11
Gross National Product (GNP)
1,623.7
1,810.6
1,875.8
11.5
3.6
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
1,229.6
1,333.0
1,398.0
8.4
4.9
GVA or Peso Contribution of Construction to GDP
59.8
65.6
68.2
9.7
4.0
% Share of Construction to GDP
4.9%
4.9%
4.9%
-
-
Total Investment or Gross Capital Formation (GCF)
186.0
245.3
336.0
31.9
37.0
Investments (GV) in Construction
90.0
99.9
107.1
11.4
7.2
% Share of Construction to total investment or GCF
48.4%
40.7%
31.9%
-
-
Total Domestic Employment
(In thousand workers)
34,262
36,001
36,293
5.1
0.8
Average Construction Employment
(In thousand workers)
1,721
1,963
1,996
14.1
1.7
% Share of Construction to Total Employment
5.0%
5.5
5.5%
-
-
FOREX Earnings (US$M) in Current Values from
Overseas Performance Report
22.51
10.15
17.52
-54.9
77.6
Source: National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), Department of Labor and Employment and CIAP-POCB for FOREX earnings
CONSTRUCTION MARKET PERFORMANCE
Construction investments, as measured by the Gross Value in Construction (GVC) during the first quarter of 2011 reached P107.1 Billion in real terms (2000 as base year), a 7.2% growth from the real value of P99.9 Billion during the first quarter of 2010. On the other hand, Construction output, as measured by the Gross Value Added (GVA) amounted to P68.2 Billion in real terms, a 4.0% growth from the real value of P65.6 Billion during the first quarter of 2010. The gains in the construction performance were boosted by the rebound in private construction activities as well as the sustained support of the private sector for infrastructure investment and development.
Infrastructure investments by the government (valued at P15.4 Billion in real terms) declined by 37.3% due to the under spending by the government in public construction activities. Public sector construction activities are expected to decline until tax revenues increase. Meanwhile, private construction activities (valued at P91.8 Billion in real terms) accelerated by 21.6% due to the sustained growth of investments in both residential and non-residential construction and buoyed by the planned implementation of infrastructure projects under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme of the government.
Contracting Sector
Domestic: As of 30 June 2011, the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB) issued a total of 5,501 contractors’ licenses for CFY 2010-2011, 86.7% of which were renewing contractors and the remaining 13.3% were new entrants.
In terms of size, large contractors (AAA & AA) accounted for a measly 5.6% share of the total local contracting population. Medium-sized contractors (A&B) comprised 33.5%, while small contractors still remained a majority at 60.9%. As to principal classification, General Engineering (GE) contractors accounted for 55.0% of the entire population. General Building (GB) contractors consisted of 33.6%. Specialty contractors constituted 6.3% while the remaining Trade contractors are 5.1%.
PCAB, likewise, issued special licenses to 32 foreign contractors and 136 Filipino contractors with Joint Venture arrangements. In terms of nationality, majority of which were Japanese (14), followed by Chinese (8), and Korean (8)
0
5
10
15
20
25
2008
2009
2010
2011
0
20
40
60
80
100
2008
2009
2010
2011
2008-2009
4.5
2009-2010
9.7
2010-2011
-37.3
Growth Rate
(In Percent)
Gross Value in
Construction
(2000 Bil Pesos)
21.34
22.31
24.47
15.35
Public
Gross Value in
Construction
(2000 Bil Pesos)
Private
64.16
67.45
75.48
91.77
2008-2009
5.1
2009-2010
11.9
2010-2011
21.6
Growth Rate
(In Percent) firms, while the remaining were Austrian (1) and Malaysian (1).
Overseas. In the first quarter of 2011, number of POCB-registered contractors and consultancy firms decreased to twenty three [23] (or -20.7%). There are about 45 outstanding contracts: 3 of which are project contracts and 42 service contracts. The number of overseas Filipino construction workers deployed (429) declined by 69.1% due to the unstable political condition in African countries, specifically, Libya, Kenya and Egypt.
About 4,266 construction workers are presently employed on-site by Filipino overseas contractors, representing a decline of 11.7% compared to the 4,831 manpower-on-site deployed in the same period in 2010. The decline can be attributed to the completion of six (6) manpower service contracts.