Inside the Philippines’ multi-billion-dollar creative economy

2023 proved to be a stellar year for the Philippine creative economy, with the sector delivering 1.72 trillion Philippine pesos (approx. US$30 billion) in total value and generating more jobs for Filipinos.

The creative economy includes professions ranging from advertising and media publishing to digital interactive goods and services, to music, arts and entertainment. The sector consists of local artists, content creators, entertainers, and social media influencers.

The Philippine Statistics Authority revealed the local creative economy grew 6.9% in 2023 alone. The sector outpaced even the growth of the overall Philippine economy, which was only at 5.6% in the same year.

Despite this, the figure was still considerably lower than the 12.2% growth the creative sector experienced in 2022.

While the creative economy saw slower growth in 2023, it was enough to contribute 7.1% to the country’s GDP. Overall, the Philippines experienced an economic output of about 21.05 trillion Philippine pesos (approx. US$368 billion) last year.

The creative economy is bouncing back from COVID

As with other parts of the Philippine economy, the pandemic lockdowns severely affected the growth of the local creative economy, slowing it down to about 9% in 2020. However, the latest data from the PSA suggest that the sector is well on its way to recovery.

Companies in the symbols-and-images industry made the biggest contribution to the creative economy in 2023, delivering an output of 541.75 billion Philippine pesos (about US$9.5 billion). The figure shows a growth of 2.4% compared to the previous year.

About 21.9% of the creative economy’s growth came from advertising, research and development, and other artistic service activities. An additional 21.1% came from digital interactive goods and service activities.

The sector employed 7.26 million Filipinos in 2023, suggesting an increase of 4% in 2024. Traditional cultural expression activities generated about 35.5% of all new jobs in creative industries last year.

Other parts of the creative economy that saw significant activity last year include:

• Media publishing and printing
• Music, arts and entertainment
• Visual arts
• Art galleries, museums, ballrooms, conventions, and trade shows

To help continue the growth of the local creative economy, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the government will do its part to support the sector.

Meanwhile, National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said the Marcos administration considers the creative industry a top priority in its economic plans. A new law is being pushed to improve the quality of existing jobs and generate new ones for Filipinos.

High internet use and the potential of the creative economy

More Filipinos are also gaining better access to the internet and spending more time on social media. These trends in the Philippine consumer market have contributed to the strong growth of the creative industry.

Research from Datareportal shows that the internet penetration rate in the Philippines was 73.1% last year. The number of internet users in the country even increased by 10 million from 2022 to 2023 alone.

With Filipinos spending an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes per day on social media platforms, the situation fuels the continued growth of the local creative industry.

Looking at the bigger picture, influencer marketing in Southeast Asia is expected to grow by US$2.59 billion in value in 2024, according to digital marketing firm INSG. This would be a significant jump from the US$638 million value the region saw in 2019.